


Neighbors

by Sharpenless



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spiderman Homecoming, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Apartments, Bucky Owns a Bakery, How Do I Tag, I mean lots, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Minor Character(s), Mutual Pining, Natasha and Sam also work at the bakery, Neighbors, Peter Parker is a Good Bro, Peter is adorable, Rating: T, Steve is a cook and works at a restaurant, Superfamily, Superfamily (Marvel), Superhusbands, Superhusbands (Marvel), for some reason, i don’t even live in New York lmao, lots of New York City, theyre not in it as much they’re like background characters, what a cutie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2018-12-18 14:25:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 36,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11876427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharpenless/pseuds/Sharpenless
Summary: Fresh from a painful divorce, Tony and his son Peter are happily moved into a small apartment in the middle of New York. But when Tony meets a kind next door neighbor by the name of Steve, Peter seizes the opportunity to set up his neighbor with his father.





	1. Lost Key

“Dang Dad, you really got a nice apartment here.” 

Tony nodded, glad that Peter approved of his choice. Landed right in the middle of Queens, it had two bedrooms, three bathrooms, and was cheaper than most of the other places in the area. That, and it was far away from Pepper.

Tony took an anxious breath, watching his son. He was concerned that the divorce would upset Peter, but he had been strangely normal the past couple of months. He had started earning money at a part-time job he had after school, he was on the honor roll, and he was the leader of the school’s top academic club. It was almost like he ignored the separation altogether. 

Peter craned his neck, watching the New York City skyline from the window in his bedroom. “The view is even nicer than you said it would be.”

Tony watched his son and smiled. “Well, I didn't want you to be disappointed, just in case you didn't like it. I know you said you wanted a bedroom that had a view.”

“It's perfect dad. I love it.”

Tony beamed. “I'm glad.”

Peter walked over to his bed, sprawling out on it before groaning. “I'm so hungry.”

“When's the last time you ate?” Tony asked, sitting next to him.

“Um, I don't know, breakfast?”

Tony opened his mouth in shock. “You haven't eaten since breakfast?”

“I didn't have time! I had to pack, say goodbye to Mom, finish homework for school on Monday-”

“Okay, fine. I get it. What do you want for dinner then?”

“Now that Mom’s gone…” Peter sat up on his bed, giving him a mischievous look. “Do you wanna go order some super unhealthy Chinese food and stuff ourselves?” 

“Let's do it.”

________________________________________

It was nearing twelve am, and Peter and Tony were passed out. Their nice kitchen table was now filled with takeout food and napkins, and the only thing that was keeping them awake was their stories about living in Manhattan with Pepper.

“So I was nine, and you and Mom took me to a zoo, right?”

“Yup, and once you got there the only thing you talked about were the orcas. And when Mom and I tried to explain to you that there were no orcas at the zoo, you threw a fit. You were in such a rage that we had to leave the zoo, your mom carrying a full-out weapon with her.”

“Wow. I feel bad that you had to deal with me.” Peter laughed.

Tony chuckled. “Yup. You were a tough kid to deal with.”

They paused their laughing, watching a few drops of rain hit their window. A content feeling overtook Tony, and he smiled softly, glad to finally be with his son.

Suddenly, their doorbell rang, making him jump.

“Who the hell is ringing our doorbell this late at night? Are you serious?”

“I can get the door Dad, it's fine…” Peter said, standing up out of his seat.

“No it's okay, just give me a minute with whoever’s there.” Tony sighed angrily as he ran to the door.

Tony opened it roughly, an attractive man looking back at him. He had piercing blue eyes and neat blond hair, with a smile that made Tony forget what he was mad about.

The man stared back, looking momentarily distracted as his eyes traced over Tony. The stranger soon realized he was blatantly gawking, and cleared his throat to steady himself.

“I'm sorry, I know it's rude of me to knock on your door this late, but I can't get in my apartment. I lost the key and there's no locksmith that's open for twenty-four hours around here. So… I don't mean to come on strong… But may I please stay at your apartment tonight?” 

Maybe it was his vaguely familiar face, or the way he stared at him like he was his last chance, but Tony found himself nodding his head and opening his door wider. He watched as the man walked in, glancing around his apartment before looking back at him. 

“Sorry I had to come here, I am _not _friends with the other neighbors, so…” He gave a sheepish grin.__

__Tony laughed, taking his hand out of his pocket and reaching it out towards him. “Tony…”_ _

__He grasped his hand, “Steve Rogers.”_ _

__An odd but pleasant feeling blended in Tony as he shook Steve’s hand. As he let go of his neighbor’s hand the feeling disconnected, and he shook his head, trying to clear himself._ _

__Peter soon appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, awkwardly walking over to them._ _

__“Oh- this is my son Peter. He's a junior in high school.”_ _

__Tony watched Peter smile at Steve, drifting over to where they were standing and waving at their neighbor._ _

__Steve waved back. “Really nice to meet you Peter. I'm Steve, I live in the apartment right next to yours, the one with the floormat in front of it.”_ _

__“Cool. I haven't even lived in this apartment for a full day yet, so I wouldn't know.” Peter said, shrugging his shoulders._ _

__Steve crossed his arms. “No way… I could've sworn you moved in a week ago!”_ _

__“Yeah, I moved in last week, but Peter only just started living with me today. He was with his mom before.”_ _

__“Ah, so are you and her…?”_ _

__“Yeah, we’re separated.”_ _

__“It's not a big deal though-” Peter said, his calm demeanor making Tony smile, “They're chill with each other.”_ _

__“That's… good,” Steve said, running his hand through his hair._ _

__Tony knew he was probably boring Steve to death, so he turned to Peter._ _

__“Pete, could you get the pullout couch ready for me while I get my bed ready for Steve-”_ _

__“Oh, it's fine, I can sleep on the pullout, you don't have to…”_ _

__Tony shook his head. “Steve, you're too nice. Like, unbelievably nice.”_ _

__Steve laughed, and Tony watched his neighbor’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink._ _

__“It's fine. I really don't mind sleeping on the pullout couch. You can sleep on my bed.” Tony said, watching Steve smile gratefully._ _

__“Thank you Tony. I'm so sorry about this whole situation.”_ _

__Tony scoffed. “You're fine, really. Peter and I are happy to help you.”_ _

__Tony turned to Peter, watching his son grimace and laugh nervously._ _

__“See- the thing is, I _would _get the pullout couch ready, but I believe that's filed under “adult things I still have to learn how to do.” So…”___ _

____As Peter backed away, Tony attempted to run after him, giving up after two seconds._ _ _ _

____“God, does that kid realize he's turning into me?” Tony laughed, watching Peter disappear from sight._ _ _ _

____“So, does that mean you need help with the couch?” Steve gestured toward the doorway Peter left through. “I can help you if you want.”_ _ _ _

____“It's fine- I'll do it myself. But before I do that…Follow me-” Tony walked through his living room as Steve trailed after him, “Let's find something for you to wear tonight.”_ _ _ _

____He walked into his bedroom and into his closet, eyeballing the clothes he had._ _ _ _

____He let out a breath, digging through the shirts he had. “No, that wouldn't fit… Nope, No… No, not with _those _muscles-”___ _ _ _

______Oh shit-_ _ _ _ _ _

______Tony forgot that Steve was standing behind him._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Oh fuck- I'm sorry- I don't actually _like _your muscles, I was just kinda- I mean, they're good muscles! I just don't- Oh god, I'm just not gonna speak anymore.” Tony said, turning around to look at Steve.___ _ _ _ _ _

________Steve was smiling at him, looking slightly flattered judging by his rosy cheeks and equally surprised expression. God, if that didn't make Tony nervous as hell._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“It's fine, you can still speak…” Steve laughed, giving Tony an odd look._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Tony felt himself nod as he turned back to his closet, still embarrassed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________It was hard to find a shirt that would fit Steve, and Tony couldn't even find a pair of pants that would be long enough, but Steve seemed to appreciate it nonetheless._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“So, I guess we should get ready for bed then.” Steve said, grabbing the clothes Tony handed to him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I guess so.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Thank you for everything Tony. Goodnight.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Goodnight…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Tony walked out of his bedroom, closing the door behind him, still thinking about Steve._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Dad- Dad…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Ugh… What is it Peter…” Tony responded, slowly opening his eyes, seeing his son standing above him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Is it cool if I make breakfast for you and your son?” Someone behind Peter said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Steve's blond hair came into view, followed by his sheepish smile._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“He was asking me-” Peter nodded toward Steve, “And I didn't know if he could use the stove or not.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Uh, sure… That's fine…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Steve grinned, walking with Peter into the kitchen._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Breathing in the morning air, Tony sat up and checked his watch. It was seven AM, a time he never woke up at._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He stretched his arms, reaching as far up into the air as he could before he fell back onto the couch._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Tony speared into some of his hashbrown, dipping it into a tomato sauce Steve and Peter made from scratch. There was also ketchup at the table in case he didn't like it, which Steve had kindly reminded him over and over again. Tony had just insisted he'd love it, smiling at Steve reassuredly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“What do you think?” Peter asked after Tony ate his first bite._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Their sauce was horrendous. To be fair, it was probably Peter’s fault more than Steve’s, as Tony knew for a fact his son couldn't cook. But Tony didn't want to say anything negative, so he shoved it down his throat, “It's amazing…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Tony feared Peter heard the slight hint of a gag in his sentence, but he was jumping up and down excitedly, not paying attention._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Did you hear that, Steve? He didn't hate it!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Tony laughed at Steve's uncomfortable expression, “Yup, I heard him…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Tony shoved more of the tart sauce into his mouth, trying to finish his breakfast as fast as he could._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“That was fun. Are you going to stay longer?” Peter asked Steve as Tony ate the rest of his breakfast._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Peter, the locksmith is probably really far from here, and Steve probably wasn't planning for this to happen anyway. We should let him go and get the key as soon as he can.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Ah, I'm sorry.” Peter sighed, staring at the ground. “It was just- er- It was fun having you here with us.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Steve grinned, shaking his head as he ruffled Peter’s hair. “If you want to make something at my house next time… I've got a pretty big kitchen.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Peter beamed at him, and it made Tony feel pleased but confused. Since when were Steve and Peter so close?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Tony stood up and circled around Peter and Steve to put his dish away. Peter, clearly satisfied with his cooking success, muttered an excuse about needing to go to his room as he left the kitchen._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Tony was about to wash his dish when he felt himself pause, turning around to see Steve standing awkwardly in the middle of the room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Tony smiled, “If you need to leave now, I understand…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Steve nodded, reaching for the front door, and then abruptly turning around. “Um- Thank you Tony, for everything…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________A fluttering feeling filled Tony as the other man stared at him. He tried to read Steve’s expression, but pretty soon he was opening the door, glancing at Tony one last time before shutting it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Tony tried to wash his dishes, but kept thinking about Steve's blue eyes, glancing at him one last time before shutting the door._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	2. Friends, But Not Quite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was one of those things Tony stopped thinking about. As the days blended together, he forgot he even lived next to Steve…
> 
> But of course, like all things in Tony's life, something had to change that.

Tony was texting Rhodey when Peter burst into the apartment.

“Hey Peter, how was scho-”

“Finally, _freedom_!” 

Tony eyed the date on his phone. “Damn- I forgot today was the eighteenth…”

Winter break was always a nightmare for Tony. He always told himself he'd buy Peter’s Christmas gifts while his son was at school, but then he forgot and he relied on Pepper to buy the Christmas gifts. But now that they were separated, he didn't have her to rely on. 

In other words, he forgot to buy gifts for Peter.

“Uh- on a completely unrelated note… Could you stay with one of your friends tonight?” He asked, smiling sheepishly at Peter.

His son grinned. “Did you forget to buy my gifts?”

“Of course not!” Tony lied quickly. 

“Then why do you want me to leave?”

Tony gulped, trying to come up with a fast lie. “I just, uh… Wanted to hang out with…”

The only friend he really hung out with was Rhodey, but he lived far away, and Peter would recognize that he was lying. He didn't really have any other friends...

But he did have a neighbor.

“Uh, I was actually going to ask Steve to hang out somewhere.”

He hadn't talked to Steve much since last week, when he stayed the night because of a lost key, but they seemed to get along well with each other. They waved to each other in the hallway, and would often converse as they entered their respective apartments, so Peter probably thought they were friends-

“You're asking Steve on a date!” Peter grinned.

“Uh- what?”

“So, are you going to go on a coffee date? Maybe a walk in the park, that would be fun. Oh, you two should have a date where you-”

Tony’s eyes widened as he shook his head. “We’re not dating, I was just going to- I mean-” Tony gave up, sighing softly. “I used him as an excuse so I could go Christmas shopping for you.”

“So you guys aren't hanging out?” Peter stared at him, a puzzled expression on his face. 

“Yes... I was just saying that so you could leave the house.” Tony replied.

“Ugh, you didn't have to lie Dad.” Peter grumbled.

Tony felt guilty, but couldn't help the nagging question in the back of his mind. “Can I just ask you one thing Petey?”

“Sure.”

“Why did you think I was asking Steve on a date?”

“I'll hang out at Michelle’s house today, bye!” Peter sped out of the room, yelling behind his shoulder.

Tony rolled his eyes. If there was one thing he had in common with his son, it was avoiding confrontation.

________________________________________

Tony walked to his apartment door, his arms filled with dozens of bags. 

He might have gone overboard, but he knew Peter deserved it. He had been so overworked lately, and all Tony wanted to do was help.

He sighed, trying to take his key out of his pocket with all of the bags he had. He set a few down, trying to grasp it before accidentally dropping half of his bags on the dirty floor.

“Ah shit…” He muttered, kneeling down to pick them up when he felt someone walk next to him.

He turned around to see blue eyes watching him.

Tony cleared his throat, glancing down at the mess in front of his door. “Christmas shopping…” 

Steve chuckled, bending down to help him. After a few seconds, all the bags were in order, and Tony was smiling gratefully at Steve.

“Thanks. I didn't realize how much Christmas shopping I needed to catch up on.” 

Steve nodded. “Understandable. I've still got some stuff I need to buy myself. I guess it's that time of the year…”

Why was Tony so nervous around him? His hands were sweating, gripped tightly around the bags he was holding. He tried to say something, but for once, he couldn't.

Why couldn't he just do it?

Why couldn't he invite Steve over?

“Um, it was nice talking to you Tony.”

“Yeah. Nice talking.”

He unlocked the door to his apartment and went in, alone.

________________________________________

“So, how was the shopping yesterday?” Peter asked, helping Tony chop some vegetables for the soup they were making.

Tony eyed his son. “I'm not telling you what I got you for Christmas.”

Peter blushed, chopping his carrot. “I know, I know, it was worth a shot.”

Tony laughed as he thought of his shopping trip. It had actually been relatively uneventful, except for what happened at the end of it.

He turned to Peter. “There was one thing that happened.”

“What was it?” Peter asked, setting down his knife.

“I ran into Steve in the hallway. We didn't talk for that long, but I thought you'd want to know because of that conversation we had yesterday.”

Tony didn't even watch his son’s expression. He just turned back to his cutting board, beginning to mince the garlic in front of him. 

“So, do you like him? Like, as more than a friend?”

Tony stopped mincing, his hands steadying as he looked back at Peter. 

“No, why?”

Peter shrugged his shoulders and picked up his knife again. “I don't know. I think you guys would be nice together.”

Tony let out a quiet breath. Maybe it was the fluttering feeling in chest, or the way his cheeks started to flush, but he found it hard to argue with his son. 

________________________________________

Tony didn't take Peter as a secretive person, but he had barely seen his son ever since they cooked dinner together on Saturday. It felt lonely without his constant chatter, but Tony knew better than to bother him. If he wanted space, he would give him that. 

That's why he found it so strange when he heard the door to the apartment open, Peter’s voice and Steve’s laughter entering the kitchen.

“Dad! I invited Steve over!”

Tony shut the laptop he was using, his heart immediately racing. 

“Okay, I'm coming over there!”

He stood, jogging to the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. Steve immediately smiled at him, holding Tony’s gaze as he waved.

Tony waved back, and Peter grinned. “I was thinking we could all have a game night. Or watch a movie. Preferably a Christmas one.”

“Sounds good to me.” Steve shrugged.

“If I would've known we were having guests I would have prepared better.” Tony raised his eyebrow at Peter, gesturing to his sweatpants and lounge shirt.

“C’mon Dad, I'm sure Steve doesn't mind.” Peter said, turning to their neighbor.

Steve nodded, staring at Tony. “You look great.”

He smiled. “Thanks.”

It was strange, he knew Steve didn't like him. At least, not yet. But he still got those damn butterflies every time the other man looked at him. 

“Alright, so what are we starting with? Game? Movie?” Peter asked, looking between the two adults.

“Game. I can make popcorn while we play.” Steve responded.

“Alright, I'll go find something.” Peter said, immediately running out of the room.

Tony walked over to Steve, feigning confidence. “Are you sure you want to be cooking? After that whole disaster with Peter last time you were here, I'm not sure that's the best idea…”

Steve laughed. “I better be good at making popcorn. After all, I am a chef. It's kind of what I do.” 

Tony’s eyes widened. “No way. I'm so sorry, I didn't realize you made food for a living- I should've known-”

“It's fine. To be clear, I had nothing to do with that sauce Peter made last time. It was all him.”

Tony chuckled. “Sounds like him. He's ridiculous.”

“He's hilarious! He tells me all these funny stories about him as a kid. He told me this one about you and him at the zoo-”

“The orcas or the octopus? Both are good.”

Steve beamed. “The orcas, but you have to tell me about the octopus.”

“Oh jeez. Well, we went to the zoo that day, and they had just installed this aquarium. So we go inside, pay extra money to get into the aquarium, and he's enjoying everything. That is, until we get to the octopus. He thinks it's cool, until one of the arms latches right onto the glass. He was so close to the glass that all he could see were the suction cups. Then he's crying, worse than I'd ever seen before in my life. The whole staff was staring, people were trying to help us, it was a mess. All Peter was saying was “the arms! They tried to get me!””

As they both laughed, Peter walked into the kitchen.

“What's so funny?”

“Octopus.” Was all Tony said, making Peter roll his eyes.

“Come on guys, we can laugh over my embarrassing stories while we play UNO.”

________________________________________

It had been a perfect evening. They got along with Steve better than Tony could've hoped for. When the movie ended, they almost didn't want to leave from where they were, Peter sprawled out on the couch between Steve and Tony.

It was just one of those moments, watching the credits roll as Peter rested his head on his shoulder, glancing at Steve, who was half asleep on the other end of the couch. He felt at ease, like all of his problems had melted away.

But after a minute of watching the credits in silence, Steve stood up and stretched.

“Thanks for inviting me. We should do this kind of a thing again sometime.” 

Tony knew it would have to end at some point, but there was still a slightly broken feeling that settled in his chest as he nodded. 

“I would walk you out of here, but…” Tony gestured to Peter, who was fast asleep on his shoulder.

“That's fine. I’ll see you around Tony.”

Tony smiled, “See you around.”

________________________________________

Tony woke up the next morning, his son sleeping on the couch next to him. He opened his eyes, grabbing his phone as he checked the time. It was the early afternoon, but it felt like later because of the dark clouds that hung outside. 

Tony sat up, yawning as he surveyed the room. Popcorn was still on the coffee table, along with boxes of board games and UNO cards. 

There was also a phone. One that didn't look anything like his or Peter’s.

Tony grabbed it, pressing the home button. The screen lit up, a picture of Steve with an unknown man as the wallpaper. He was attractive, around the same age as Steve, with long brown hair and brown eyes. 

Goddammit, Tony hoped that wasn't Steve’s boyfriend.

He set the phone down on the glass coffee table, in between the popcorn and the board games. He'd return it once he got actual clothes on.

“Dad?”

Tony turned around, seeing a sleepy Peter staring at him.

“Yes?”

Peter sighed. “I was thinking, should we get Steve a Christmas gift?”

Tony bit his lip. On one hand, they had only met about a week ago. On the other, he was a neighbor and quickly becoming a friend. But he didn't even know what he would get Steve, let alone if he would get the both of them a gift.

“I don't think so. I mean, we only just met him.”

Peter nodded, sinking back into the couch. “I agree.”

Tony smiled, ruffling Peter’s hair. “Cool.”

________________________________________

Later that day, Tony knocked on the door of Steve’s apartment. He stood, waiting for him to open the door, holding his neighbor’s phone tightly in his hand.

The door suddenly creaked open, and the unknown man on Steve’s wallpaper stared back at him.

His long hair was pulled into a bun, and his face was twisted into a smirk, watching Tony through dark eyes.

“Hey, I was just wondering if I could return this to Steve?” He held out the phone as the man nodded.

“He was looking for it. Thanks. I'll tell him that you stopped by. What's your name?”

“Tony.” He responded, giving the man a cool look. “And you?”

“Bucky. I’m Steve's friend.”

Bucky winked, confusing Tony further. Was that an I'm-actually-dating-him wink, or a we’re-really-good-friends wink?

“I live right next to Steve. I actually just moved in.”

Bucky crossed his arms and looked Tony up and down. “So you're not like the other cranky people who live here?”

Tony chuckled. “Nope.”

Bucky nodded. “Nice meeting you Tony.”

“Same to you.”

________________________________________

“So Bucky is friends with Steve, and he _winked_ when he said friends?” Peter sat next to Tony, eating some of the popcorn still left in the container.

“Yup. _Winked_. He has to be dating Steve.”

Peter furrowed his brow, a slightly distressed look on his face. “No way. If they were dating, how could Steve be flirting with y- Nevermind.”

Tony didn't pay attention, stuck in what Bucky had said. They were probably dating. They were _definitely_ dating. But Tony didn't care. He didn't care at all.

He couldn't care less.

“Dad, is it cool if I walk to Starbucks to meet some friends?”

Tony nodded, too distracted to see Peter hide his grin. His son left the house, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

________________________________________

Tony woke up the next morning, going through his normal routine. He showered, shaved, got dressed, and made breakfast.

The only problem was, Peter wasn't around for breakfast.

“Peter?” He called, walking into his son’s room. It wasn't like him to sleep in late.

Tony knew something was wrong. 

“Peter?”

He walked out of his apartment, trying not to wake anyone as he bounded down the steps. He looked through the lobby, the staircase, all the floors he could manage.

Tony began to panic.

He texted Peter, asking where he was. He called, all of them going to voicemail.

He knew it was pointless, but he had to check Steve's.

He knocked, chewing on his fingernail nervously. It was one of his bad habits, but the only thing he seemed to care about at the moment was Peter.

“Is everything okay?” Steve asked, opening the door and taking in Tony's flushed expression.

“I need help. Is Peter in your room?”

“No, why?” Steve questioned him as Tony grew more panicked.

“I did something so so stupid. He hung out with some friends last night, and he didn't come home. Yesterday I texted him, asking him if he was okay, and he texted back yes. I assumed that he would just come home late, but I woke up and he wasn't here.”

Steve put his hand on Tony's shoulder. “Did you check the houses of the friends he stayed with?”

“No, I was just so worried. I didn't think to look.”

Steve nodded. “You have to go to his friend’s house next. I'll come with you.”

“No Steve, you don't have to help-”

“No, stop. Peter’s a smart kid, he can't be too far. And I want to help. I promise you, we will find him.”

Tony watched Steve disappear, coming back with two coats. 

“It's cold, you're going to need a coat-” Steve explained quickly. “Now, where was the last place you were with him before he went with his friends?”

“We were sitting in the living room together and he asked if he could meet some friends at Starbucks. I said yes, and he left.” Tony said, pulling on the black winter jacket Steve handed to him.

Tony watched Steve nod. “How far away do his friends live? Can we walk there?”

They started jogging down the steps, Tony slightly ahead of Steve.

Tony bit his lip, “His friends don't live around here. I've got a car parked outside. It's about a fifteen minute drive without traffic. Or we could take the subway.”

They reached the end of the staircase, Steve staring off, deep in thought.

“Car. Subway might be busy.” He said, opening the front door of the apartment complex for Tony.

Tony walked out the door, grabbing the rail on the front steps. The steps to his apartment complex were steep, but usually he didn't have a problem stepping down them.

But as soon as he put his foot on the first step, he noticed the slight sheen of black ice. He lost his balance, steadying himself on the railing.

After almost slipping, he felt a hand grab his arm. Tony looked at Steve, who was moving his hand down to Tony’s.

“Um- let’s go down together.” Steve said softly, holding Tony’s hand tightly.

The more Tony slipped on the ice, the tighter Steve's hand squeezed his. Though Tony was enjoying it, he felt his hand grown numb by the time they reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Uh, Steve… You're kind of squeezing me…” Tony stated awkwardly as they got to the last step.

Steve immediately let go of his hand, and Tony blushed, suddenly missing the warmth.

“I'm sorry.” Steve said, making Tony smile.

Tony watched his blue eyes suddenly look up to the sky, and snowflakes fell down onto his face. They fell down harder and harder, and it almost made Tony forget what he was doing there.

Until he remembered. Peter. Lost.

His nerves fired up again.

“Okay, we can check Ned’s house, or Michelle's house...” Tony muttered, striding over to his car.

After opening the passenger door for Steve and going behind the wheel, he sat at his seat, putting his head in his hands. He tried to start the car, but he was too distracted. He couldn't focus.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked, resting his hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“This is all my fault. I let him leave, I didn't check on him enough. What if he's gone...” Tony replied.

“Look at me Tony…”

He stared at Steve, who had a determined expression on his face. 

“We are going to find Peter.” He said as Tony took a deep breath. “Now, which house do you think he might be at?”

“Um… Ned’s place, probably.”

“Then let’s go there.”

________________________________________

“Are you okay Tony?” Steve asked him again.

“I will be, once we find Peter…” Tony said, noticing how tightly he was gripping onto his wheel.

Tony slowly approached Ned’s apartment, finding a parking spot on the side of the street.

Tony opened the door to his car, his feet hitting the fresh snow on the sidewalk. 

“Tony, wait. I'm coming with you.” Steve said, coming around the car and stepping beside him.

Tony shook his head, “No Steve, stay in the car. I can do this myself.”

Steve sighed, “Okay…”

He hoped Peter was at Ned’s apartment. If not… He doubted he was at Michelle’s.

He walked to the front of the complex, finding the place where you buzzed in and buzzing the apartment number.

“Hello?” A voice came through the speaker.

“Hi, is this Ned?”

“Dad! Oh my god Dad please don't be mad at me!” Tony recognized Peter in the call and immediately furrowed his brow in anger.

“Peter, I am _this_ close to grounding you for the rest of your life. You better have an amazing excuse as to why you couldn't at least call me once!” He yelled into the machine.

“I do! I do! It was getting really late and it started to snow, and there was no place else to go but Ned’s house. I was going to call you on my phone but it died and I forgot.” 

Tony crossed his arms, “You better come down here right now…”

“Okay, I'll be right down!”

Tony walked over to his car, opening his door and sitting in it. 

“Is Peter there?” Steve asked right away, concern etched across his face.

“Yup. He's coming here right now.” 

Steve grinned. “That's good! We found him.”

“But he's in for the biggest punishment of his life.” Tony muttered, crossing his arms.

Steve laughed. “Aren't you happy we found him?”

Tony looked at Steve's smile and remembered the way they had held hands. The way Steve had looked up at the sky when it had started to snow.

Yes, he was happy they found him. But he was also happy because of how it brought him closer to Steve. 

He smiled too.

Footsteps bounded over to his open car door, the sound of crunching snow making Tony turn.

“Dad, please don't be angry…”

Tony sucked in a breath, looking to Peter's nervous expression and shaking his head. “I'm not mad. In fact, let's get some breakfast. I'm starving.”

Peter tilted his head. “You're… not mad?”

“Yup. Hop in the car, we’re going to get breakfast. Cool with you Steve?”

Steve nodded and Peter grinned. His son didn't even look surprised at their neighbor in the car.

Peter sat in the back seat, buckling into it as Tony backed out of their space.

“Steve’s here because of you, by the way. He was very kind to help me when I went looking for you.” Tony said, driving to their local diner.

“It was nothing, honestly. Peter and I are cool.” Steve said, turning around in his seat to look at him.

Tony heard an enthusiastic high-five, rolling his eyes as Peter and Steve began discussing high school. 

After a few more minutes of driving, he parked a few yards from the diner.

“Yes! I love Adam’s.” Peter shouted, throwing off his seatbelt.

Tony rolled his eyes again as Steve chuckled. They walked through the light amount of snow, Peter talking to Steve the whole way. 

They made it to the modest building, walking inside to a bright-colored room filled with people. It was very old school, with jukeboxes and counters with cushiony barstools.

A bored looking employee seated them at a booth, and Peter strategically seated himself alone on one side.

“Come on Peter, could you scoot over? I don’t want to make Steve uncomfortable.” Tony said, trying to push him farther into the seat. 

“Nope! I like where I'm sitting.” He smirked, crossing his arms.

“It's fine Tony, I don't mind.” Steve smiled, sitting down across from Peter and patting the space next to him.

“Okay…” He conceded, sitting himself next to Steve while trying to keep a respectful distance from the other man.

A few seconds later, a waitress with long eyelashes and bright red lipstick walked over to their table. “Hey! I'm Ari, I'll be taking care of you. Is there anything you guys would like to drink?”

Everyone ordered a water, and she nodded once before leaving.

“You got a water?” Tony asked Peter, laughing.

“Hey! I'm trying to be more sophisticated. No more lemonades for me.”

Tony shook his head, watching Steve attempt to hold back a chuckle of his own.

“You guys are lame, and both of you suck at UNO, so I don't know why you're laughing at me.”

Steve scoffed. “Your win was so lucky. I was about to get an UNO until your dad gave me a draw four.”

“That was hilarious!” Tony said, barely containing his laughter. “The look on your face was priceless.”

A few seconds later the waitress laid down the waters, leaving them to decide their breakfast choices.

“What are you getting Petey?” Tony asked, setting down his menu.

“Probably a burger or something.” Peter shrugged.

“What- Peter, it’s breakfast. Not lunch.” Tony said, chuckling at his son.

“Dang it, I forgot. Fine, I'll just get… French toast. What are you getting Steve?”

Steve looked up from his menu. “Uh… I have no clue. This thing is gigantic.”

Tony shook his head in fake disappointment. “Rookie mistake. No one goes to Adam’s without an idea of what they want.”

Peter laughed and nodded. “I recommend the pancakes though. Ooh- but don't get them without bacon.”

“Don't listen to him.” Tony whispered to Steve. “He dips his bacon into syrup. He’s weird.”

Steve turned back to his menu, looking even more confused.

“So, has everyone decided what they want?” Ari said, coming back with a notepad in her hand.

Everyone ordered, Steve getting the pancakes with bacon, Tony getting the eggs benedict, and Peter getting the French toast. The waitress wrote it down, smiling before walking away.

“So, you came by my apartment yesterday.” Steve said to Tony, taking a sip of his water.

“Yeah, you left your phone at my apartment.” 

“Sorry I wasn't around. I actually had Bucky stay there for me while I was at work.”

“Are you and him dating?” Peter asked, completely out of the blue.

Tony glared at his son. It was going so well! Why did Peter always have to say something to embarrass him-

“Bucky and I?” Steve laughed hysterically. “No. He has a really serious girlfriend. Plus, I'm gay and he isn't.”

Tony blushed as Peter smiled at him knowingly. His son knew him too well.

Peter grinned as he turned to Steve. “My Dad’s bi, actually.”

“Really?” Steve turned to him, his blue eyes widened in shock.

“Yeah. I always have been.” He felt his hands sweat as he told Steve.

“That's cool. I'm glad you are- I mean- it's nice to have people who are… You know… Also a part of the community.”

Tony understood perfectly. “Yeah. I get it.”

Peter smirked, watching his Dad blush darker.

 

________________________________________

Steve grabbed the check. “I'll pay.”

Tony laughed, “No Steve, I'll pay. You're our guest!”

Tony smiled at his neighbor, grabbing the check and signing before Steve could protest. He knew they could've done a separate check, but he felt bad about bringing him into finding Peter, so he wanted to pay.

A girl came to pick up the check, bringing it back five minutes later. 

“Thank you for breakfast Tony.”

Tony laughed. “No, I should be thanking you Steve- I doubt I would have been able to find Peter without you.”

“Well, I'm just trying to be a good friend.” 

Friend- he considered them as friends…

There was a lot of pressure to that word, but it made Tony more excited than nervous. He was approaching friend territory with Steve, and they'd only known each other a week.

They left the table, exiting the restaurant as Steve and Peter began to talk, walking far ahead of Tony. What they were talking about sounded like nonsense, until Tony heard Peter whisper his name.

Tony saw Steve raise his eyebrows at Peter, watching him turn his head around. They locked eyes, snow drifting between them for the few seconds they looked at each other. Offering him a small smile, Tony watched Steve turn around to whisper with Peter again.

For the third time that morning, Tony rolled his eyes.

________________________________________

“I'm going to go do some school stuff.” Peter said once they reached their floor, the three of them standing between their apartments.

“Okay. I'll be right in.”

They were alone. Staring at each other in the hallway, Tony got that fluttering feeling in his stomach again.

He took Steve by surprise, walking over and pulling him into a tight hug.

“When I was in the car… I got so stressed out- and you helped me, you were there. Thank you- I'm not sure what I would have done without you.”

Tony let go of Steve, letting himself reveal his relieved expression. 

“No problem. By the way, would you ever want to- Um, nevermind… I'll see you later Tony-” Steve sighed, turning away to open his door.

“See you…” Tony whispered, starting to walk over to his door, but not before watching Steve slowly close his own.

It had only been for a moment, so temporary and quick that he didn't see it at first, but he noticed Steve turn red before he quickly opened his apartment.

Maybe Steve wasn't as confident as he let on. 

Maybe, just maybe, he liked Tony too.

Tony immediately dismissed the thought, walking into his apartment and shaking his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm blaming any mistakes on AO3 moblie. My computer is broken so I had to type this all on my phone. :(((


	3. Sick at a Dinner Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony, Peter and Steve are all about to enjoy a dinner together before Christmas comes. Until Tony mysteriously becomes "sick". Then he forms a deal with Peter, falls even harder for Steve, and struggles with Steve and Pepper meeting for the first time.

Tony laid the last fork on the table, smiling at his kitchen table. Sure, anyone else would take it as a regular dinner, but Tony knew it was special. 

A sudden knock at the door had him running, opening it to find Steve holding a dish in his hands.

Tony smirked. “Hey Neighbor.”

“Hello… Neighbor.” Steve responded.

“Sorry you had to come a little later… Peter kept insisting we had to make something too, and I didn't expect to be baking today.” He said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Steve laughed. “Of course. I can't wait to have it. Is it… something apple? I smell apple.”

“It's just an apple pie we threw together. I'm not the best at cooking, but I'm actually not too bad at baking.”

In general, Tony was actually a pretty poor baker. Though it smelled heavenly in his apartment, he worked his ass off just to find all of the ingredients when he went shopping. He was lucky it turned out average.

Steve gave Tony his dish. “I brought some chicken and mashed potatoes. My friends obsess over it, they ask for it whenever I host something at my house. Not to brag, or anything.”

Tony smelled the dinner, his mouth watering. “I'll put this over here…” He smiled, setting it down between the three plates he had laid out.

“Great. Thanks for inviting me over here, by the way.”

“Oh it's not a big deal, really.” Tony insisted, walking towards Steve. “We didn't really have a lot going on, and it's a good thing to do before Christmas.”

Christmas Eve was actually the next day, and Peter would be spending it with his mom. Tony would most likely be spending it by himself, eating ice cream on his couch.

Needless to say, he decided to do something fun before that happened.

“So, where's Peter?” Steve asked, tilting his head.

“I'm not sure. Probably in his room still. Do you… Want me to get him?”

Steve shook his head. “No, I was just wondering.”

Tony raised his eyebrow and chuckled. “I think he's growing on you.”

The other man shrugged his shoulders and grinned. “Like you said, he's ridiculous.”

“He's more than that. He's outrageous.”

Peter had gotten himself lost last time Tony had seen Steve. His neighbor had helped in the search, but they ultimately found him in perfect health at a friend's house. It was a pretty useless search, but there were a couple of things that Tony remembered from it.

Steve blushing a deep red just from talking to him. Steve holding his hand as they slipped on ice. Steve grasping his shoulder as he talked to him.

Tony got butterflies just thinking about it.

“I'll- uh… Get Peter. So we can eat. Yeah.” He said, speeding out of the room.

He knew he liked Steve. He had accepted that ever since Peter went missing. But he was so awkward around him, so nervous. 

It helped when Peter was around, his personality easing the tension in the room. But without him, Tony felt like a ball of anxiety.

Tony slowly opened the door to Peter’s room, finding his son typing on his computer.

“Petey, dinner.”

Tony watched him look up from the computer screen, nodding once before walking to the door.

“Dad, you okay? You look sick or something.”

Tony laughed nervously and felt his face grow hot. “I'm fine. I'm just…”

He paused. He didn't know what to say as he stared at his son’s eyes, which were filled with silent laughter.

“In love with Steve?” Peter suggested, immediately breaking into giggles when Tony shushed him.

“I am _not_ in love with Steve. You know that.” 

Tony watched Peter roll his eyes as they walked into the kitchen. Steve smiled at them, sitting in a chair at the kitchen table.

“Sorry, that kind of took longer than expected.” Tony said, sitting in a chair opposite from Steve.

“Yeah, sorry Steve.” Peter smirked, leaning against a counter, “It's just, my dad looks kind of sick. Doesn't he?” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Don't listen to him. I feel fine.”

Tony watched Steve tilt his head, staring carefully at him. It made him blush, feeling his blue eyes carry over his face.

“You… Look kind of red. Let me feel your forehead.” Steve said, standing out of his seat.

“Told you.” Peter grinned, crossing his arms.

Tony’s heart pounded, watching Steve walk around the table. He stood next to him, taking his rough hand and grazing it over his forehead. His face flushed, watching Steve stare at him intently. Those blue eyes, narrowed in focus.

Steve pressed his hand harder as Tony broke eye contact, looking toward his son. Peter was just smiling in silent victory.

“Your face feels really hot. Maybe you should get some rest. I can make soup, Peter can get you into bed.” Steve said, slowly dropping his hand.

Tony glared at Peter. “I promise you, I am not sick. Let's just eat.”

Steve shook his head. “Your face felt really hot Tony. Trust me, I used to get sick all the time as a kid. You need rest.”

“Ugh- fine. Let's just make this a different day then.” Tony sighed, knowing he wouldn't win an argument against him.

Steve nodded his head in approval, putting his chicken in Tony’s refrigerator as he took out a pot for the soup. 

“Peter, can you help your dad get some medicine?” Steve asked, grabbing ingredients out of the fridge. 

“Sure thing.” He replied.

Tony stood up, striding out of the room in an angry gait. Walking into his bedroom, he waited for Peter to follow him before shutting the door. 

“What the hell Peter?! You ruined our dinner!” Tony yelled, watching Peter lower his head in shame.

“I’m sorry, I didn't know he'd actually think you were sick.” He sighed.

“Well, now our evening is ruined. Ugh, I just… I wanted a normal night. Like the time he came over here and we played UNO.”

Peter gave a soft smile. “That was fun.”

“It was. But now we can't have that.”

Peter laughed. “Dad, this is better! You get to be in bed all day having Steve take care of you.”

Tony groaned, falling backwards on his bed. “You're not helping.”

“I know. I get it Dad. You really like him, right?” Peter asked, laying on the bed next to Tony.

Tony propped himself up on his arm, sighing as he looked at Peter. He knew that his son had figured it out, and he knew that he wouldn't buy a lie from him.

He had to tell the truth.

“Yes.” He finally admitted.

Peter beamed. “I knew it. Every since we met him you've been acting different.”

“I have?”

“Yeah, you're always acting weird around him. I've never seen you so… Nervous.”

Tony sighed. “I just like him so much. I don't why. The way he helped me… I don't know. But it's never gonna happen.”

“Not with that attitude!” Peter exclaimed, grabbing his Dad’s arm. “I'm getting you a date.”

“ _No_.”

“Come on! I'm so good with relationships. How do you think I got Michelle to date me?” Peter smiled.

Tony opened his mouth in surprise. “You're dating Michelle?!”

“Um. Whoops.”

“Why didn't you tell me?! Peter Benjamin Stark-”

“Hold on. This is about you, not me.” Peter crossed his arms. “Now, I'm getting you a date with Steve.”

Tony threw his hands over his face in exasperation. “Please don't.” 

Tony watched Peter lay back down on the bed, staying in that same position for five minutes before abruptly sitting up.

“Fine, let's make a deal. If I can prove that Steve likes you, I'll get you a date with him. If I can't, I won't get involved.”

“Prove? How would you prove that he likes me?” Tony asked as his son grinned.

“Get it on videotape. Or get him to say it near you. It's probably easy.”

It was Tony's turn to grin. “ _Sure_. I guarantee you- he will never say it. He doesn't like me.”

“Yeah, you keep saying that.” Peter giggled.

“Okay, get out of my room. I've gotta get pajamas on so I can pretend to be sick.” Tony sighed, sliding off of his bed as he walked to his closet.

Peter hopped off, turning to leave before abruptly walking in front of Tony and sticking out his hand.

“Do we have a deal? I'll get him to say that he has a crush on you, and then I'll get you a date. If not… I won't do anything.” 

Tony grasped his hand.

“You have a deal.”

Tony watched Peter grin, a confident glint in his eyes. 

________________________________________

A soft knock came at his door. 

“Come in…” Tony called, throwing himself underneath his sheets as he tried to act sick.

The door opened, revealing Peter, who was struggling to hold a heavy bowl of soup. After him walked Steve, who shot Tony a wide grin.

Steve laughed, “I told him I could take the soup, but he wanted to bring it in...”

Peter furrowed his brow, “I can carry a stupid bowl of soup, come on. You guys are mean.”

Stopping in front of Tony’s bed, Peter set the soup down on the nightstand. Smiling softly, Steve set down a cup of water next to it.

“You know you didn't have to, right?” Tony sighed, sitting up on his bed.

“It’s not a big deal. I owe you one, from when you bought me breakfast.” Steve said.

“Thank you.”

He felt the bed shift, creaking as Peter crawled onto it.

“What's up?” He asked, watching as his son let out a breath.

“Dad, can I ask you a quick question?” 

“Sure, go ahead.” Tony said, watching Peter sprawl out on the bed.

“Can Steve stay over here for the night?” Peter spoke after a second of hesitation.

Well, Tony didn't expect that. 

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to hang out with him today! I won't be able to see him for a week ‘cause I'll be at Mom’s!”

“I don't mind staying here for the night, if it's okay with you. I really have no other plans.” Steve added as Peter nodded along enthusiastically.

Tony was on the edge of agreeing, until something clicked in the back of his mind. He regarded Peter's eager face, remembering the deal they made a few minutes before.

Peter was trying to get him a date with Steve. He was fulfilling the deal.

Though he wanted to know if Steve reciprocated his feelings, he didn't necessarily want to find out that day. What if he did like him? He wasn't prepared for a date. And if he didn't like him… He couldn't handle that rejection.

Sighing softly, he shook his head. “Sure, Steve can stay overnight.” 

What? His mind blanked as he went over what he just said. No no no no he didn't mean to agree! How did he manage to say that? Oh god-

“Thanks Dad!” Peter exclaimed, reaching out to hug him. 

“Uh-” Tony stayed in an awkward pose as Peter wrapped his arms around him tightly.

Steve laughed at them, making Tony roll his eyes. 

“Alright alright, you're welcome-” Tony sighed, trying to twist away from Peter's embrace.

Picking himself up off of Tony, Peter hopped over to Steve. 

“Come on Steve, let's go gossip about my Dad together!”

“You are not going to gossip about me, you hear me young man!” Tony shouted, watching Peter exit the room as Steve stayed where he was.

Tony looked to Steve, who just shrugged, equally puzzled.

________________________________________

Tony scrolled through his phone, jolting when his door bursted open.

It had been an hour since Peter and Steve dropped off the soup, and Tony hadn't heard a word from either of them. But there Peter was, standing at his door.

A huge smile was plastered on his face, making Tony slightly nervous. He knew right away that it was about the deal they made earlier.

Running over to him and grabbing his arm, Peter stared at him intensely. “You had no faith in me.”

“What the hell are you talking about-”

“Steve- I think he likes you too.”

Tony felt his face flush. “What do you mean- what are you-”

Beginning to laugh, Peter enthusiastically jumped up and down. “I mean, he spent an entire hour going over how great you are. Sure, he didn't say he likes you back, but that's proof if I've ever seen it.”

Tony shook Peter off of him, staring at him in confusion. “So, you didn't ask him if he had feelings for me?”

Giving Tony a slightly less excited grin, he shook his head. “But I was thinking, maybe you should go and ask him yourself. Maybe we should… call off the deal.”

Tony gave Peter an incredulous look, “No no no, I am _not_ asking Steve if he has feelings for me.”

“But Dad, this is your friend, and your problem… You need to talk with him, alone.”

“No, I'm not having this conversation with him. I've only known him for two weeks-”

“Some people meet each other and immediately start dating!” Peter replied.

Tony felt himself bite his lip in frustration, “He probably doesn't like me back-”

Peter giggled. “He definitely has a crush on you. Trust me, he does.”

“I don't even know when I'd ask him! We never talk to each other alone.” Tony finished.

“That, I can help with.” Peter said, once again going to the door of Tony's room, leaving abruptly.

“God help me.” Tony muttered. 

________________________________________

Tony didn't hear from Steve or Peter for the rest of the night. He fell asleep, waking up early the next morning.

Getting up out of his bed and yawning, he immediately changed into clothes. He went into his bathroom and quickly took an Advil, a light headache forming from staying up late so last night. 

He left his bedroom, walking into the living room. He strided to the middle of the room, noticing Steve sleeping on the couch. His blond hair was messy against the pillow he was sleeping on, his arms wrapped around a purple blanket.

He looked so peaceful, his lips parted as he breathed deeply. Tony tiptoed around him, trying not to wake him as he went to the door of Peter's room.

He opened it, trying to be quiet. As soon as he walked in, he saw Peter writing on what he assumed to be a sheet of homework.

“Good morning Pete.”

“Morning Dad.” Peter responded, looking up from his homework.

“Are you all ready for Mom to pick you up?”

Peter groaned. “I forgot. I haven't even packed.”

“I told you to pack yesterday.” Tony sighed.

“I know, and I was going to! But we started making that apple pie and I got distracted.” 

“Okay, that's fine. I have no idea when Mom's getting here though, so you better start packing.”

Peter raised his eyebrow. “Is Steve still here?”

“Yeah. Why?”

His son gave him a worried expression. “What if Mom gets here when Steve is around?”

Tony shrugged. “Why does it matter?”

Peter threw his pencil out of his hand, grabbing his dad by the shoulders. “Because! Steve is totally going to be awkward around her. And she'll see that you have a giant crush on him.”

Tony laughed. “ _Sure_. I'm not that obvious with Steve.”

Peter just shook his head. “You are. You are obvious.”

“Well I don't know what to do. Steve's still sleeping, I don't want to just wake him up and kick him out.”

Peter nodded. “That would be bad. You guys are hanging out tomorrow.”

“What?!”

“Shhh, Steve's still sleeping.” Peter said, watching Tony sputter.

“We’re hanging out with each other on Christmas? Why- what- how is this-”

“Yes, it was the only day he wasn't at work. Besides, I was talking to him. He said he doesn't have anyone to be with on Christmas either. He doesn't have any family… Not even distant relatives.”

Tony gave his son a perplexed look. “He… doesn't?”

Peter sighed. “Yes. It's perfect, it's Christmas. You can finally confess your feelings for him.”

Tony glanced at the floor. His son was right, it was perfect. It was the best way to finally tell Steve how he felt.

“Thank you Peter.”

“I was waiting for that.” His son replied, smirking.

________________________________________

A few minutes later, Steve stirred on the couch. Tony watched him out of the corner of his eye, reading a book on a chair in the living room. 

“Good morning.” Tony said to him, smiling.

“Hey.” Steve grinned, his eyes droopy with sleep.

Tony's heart fluttered as he set down his book. “Did you sleep okay? I know it's not the most comfortable couch…”

“Oh yeah, it was fine.” Steve responded, sitting up. 

“That's good.” 

“Did Peter tell you about… the Christmas thing?” Steve asked after a few minutes of silence. “We meant to talk to you about it yesterday, but it was really late.”

“He told me. I… think it's a nice idea.”

“Are you sure you're up for it? I know you weren't too sick, but…” Steve trailed off, concern etched across his face.

“I'm fine. I've only really had a couple of headaches. Nothing too bad.”

Tony watched Steve stand up and stretch. “Great. I was hoping you'd be healthy enough to do it.”

“Cool. So, what do you… Are you um… planning anything for that day?”

Steve nodded. “I was thinking we could do it at my apartment for a change. Maybe we could take a quick walk around the park, make Christmas dinner together.”

It sounded nice. It sounded wonderful. But Tony could already feel his nerves getting the best of him. “Um… okay.”

“Does that sound good to you?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, it sounds perfect.”

Tony’s heart melted at the way Steve smiled at him after he spoke. He looked so happy, and Tony couldn’t believe that he was the cause of that genuine happiness.

“Great. I'm glad I have someone to spend Christmas with this year.”

“Me too.” Tony responded. “I thought I'd be alone this year… But I'm not.”

Tony was spending time alone with Steve. For once, he was without Peter. It was nerve wracking, but exciting. Tony's heart was pounding at the thought of being alone in Steve's apartment, finally able to tell the other man how he felt-

A knock came at the front door, interrupting Tony's thoughts.

Shit.

He had been so distracted by spending Christmas with Steve, he had forgotten about Pepper. 

“Um… I think it's Pepper.” Tony said to Steve as he rushed out of the room.

“Who's that?” Steve asked, following behind him.

Tony realized he'd never actually told Steve Pepper’s name. He hadn't talked about her since the day Steve got locked out of his apartment, and even then, it had been a quick conversation.

“Um- Ex-wife.” Tony responded quickly.

“Oh.” 

Tony opened the door, Pepper dressed in her business suit and black heels. Her hair was pinned up in a bun, looking as refined as ever.

Tony was wearing sweats. Steve was wearing pajamas.

“Hi.” Tony greeted her, opening his door wider.

“Um… Hello.” She replied, scanning her eyes over to Steve, who was standing awkwardly in the corner of the room.

“Oh- This is Steve. He's a friend of mine.” Tony said, gesturing to him.

“Nice to meet you.” Steve said, sticking out his arm as he walked over to Pepper.

Pepper grasped his outstretched hand, and Tony watched as they awkwardly shook each other's hand.

Tony let out a breath. “I'll go get Peter.”

He ran to Peter's room, immediately knocking on his door. “Peter? Are you ready? Mom is here.”

“I'll be out in a minute!” Peter called.

“Okay…” 

Tony walked back slowly, finding himself in the doorway of where Steve and Pepper were attempting conversation. He stood outside of the room, opting to eavesdrop for a few moments.

“So, are you good friends with Tony?”

He watched Steve nod. “I think so. He's my neighbor, so we talk a lot.”

Pepper looked at the floor, trying to suppress an expression that looked like jealousy. “Oh, that's nice. Are you and him…?”

“What?” Steve was clueless.

“Are you two dating? He was kind of… Looking at you like…”

Dammit, Peter was right. Why did Tony have to be so obvious?

“No, we’re not.” Steve said to her as Tony watched his cheeks turn pink.

Tony walked into the room, making Steve clear his throat in an attempt to steady himself. 

Tony smirked inwardly.

Maybe Peter was right. Maybe Steve did have feelings for him.

“He's coming in a few minutes. I think he might be getting changed or something.” Tony said to Pepper as she smiled.

“Okay. Thank you, by the way. You know I wanted to have Christmas with him.”

Tony sighed. “Well, I don't mind.”

Peter walked into the room, his luggage dragging behind him.

“Hi Mom.” He grinned as Pepper pulled him into a hug.

“Hi Petey. Let's get your stuff in my car.”

Peter smiled, giving a bag to his mom before turning to Tony.

“Love you Dad. I'll see you in a week.” 

Tony wrapped his arms around Peter, sighing. He would miss his son so much over the next seven days.

Peter tightened his hold on him, coming up to his ear. “Text me about Steve.” He whispered.

Tony chuckled. “Of course.”

They let go, smiling one more time at each other before Peter left through the front door.

Finding his words, Tony looked to Steve. “I'm sorry about that, I wasn't sure when she was coming…”

“You don't have to apologize, I get it.” He said as Tony went to the front door, shutting it closed.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I really wanted Peter to stay here for Christmas, but Pepper kept insisting that she needed to have him this week. Whatever…” 

Tony walked over to his refrigerator, grabbing himself a quick glass of water. “Want anything to drink?”

Steve shook his head, “No, I'm fine… I think I should head back to my apartment anyway.”

Tony couldn't help the twinge of disappointment he felt as Steve backed toward the door. “Okay- I'll see you tomorrow then.”

“Oh- I almost forgot- Come to my apartment in the morning. Come at ten.”

Tony tilted his head in confusion. “We’re starting dinner at ten?”

“No, I have other stuff I want to do!” Steve enthused, “Like the walk in the park I was talking about, and a couple other things I planned.”

Tony raised his eyebrow. “Do you... Have a surprise for me?”

Steve smiled, “Maybe…”

Tony laughed and felt an excited jolt go through him. He couldn't believe Steve was surprising him with something. 

He couldn't wait for tomorrow.

He just needed to figure out when to confess his feelings for the other man.

Steve put his hand on the knob of the front door, looking back at Tony one last time. “See you tomorrow Tony…”

Letting himself grin at Steve, Tony waved. “See you tomorrow, Neighbor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so next chapter is going to be long. And a bitch to write. And hopefully, good. Also, school is busy, so I'm not promising an update next week. I'll try to make it happen though!


	4. A Christmas Miracle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A surprise, a walk in the park, and constant text messages with Peter. Tony was having a pretty eventful Christmas Day.

After a solid hour of laying in his bed, his eyes refusing to close as he stared at his ceiling, Tony gave in. Taking out his phone, he shot Peter a text.

T: Meeting Steve at 10 AM tomorrow  
T: I can't sleep

Tony knew he would be nervous for his Christmas celebration with Steve, but he had no idea how much he would be stressing about it. Bleakly remembering the pint of ice cream he almost finished a few hours ago, he checked his phone for a response from Peter. 

Nothing.

A few minutes later, a dinging sound filled the empty room. There weren't any texts from Peter, but there were two from Steve. 

S: Make sure you don't eat anything before you come over tomorrow  
S: Forgot to tell you :)

A small smile escaped Tony. Though he was still in confusion over what “surprise” Steve was showing him, now at least he knew it had to do with food. 

He fondly remembered yesterday morning, when Steve had given him a bright smile and purposely forgot to mention what things he was planning for them to do on Christmas. Now that he could predict it was about food, he was even more intrigued. 

Blushing a deep red, he texted a response.

T: I'm guessing that has something to do with the surprise you promised me?

Tony watched the typing bubble, first disappearing before coming back again a few seconds later.

S: Can't sleep too?

It finally hit Tony- it was one AM. The time had slipped from his fingers as he stayed up worrying. He wondered if Steve was doing the same thing…

T: Yeah  
T: I'm think I'm too nervous about tomorrow

He didn't know any other way to explain it, so he told the truth. He couldn't help but notice that Steve started typing right away, and he gripped his phone as he waited for his neighbor’s response.

S: Why are you nervous?

Tony turned over in his bed, thinking about his next text as he pulled his sheets closer to himself. Why was he nervous?

He was nervous because everytime he saw Steve smile, his heart would beat faster. He was nervous because he could get lost in Steve’s sparkling eyes. He was nervous because he was confessing his feelings for Steve tomorrow, and the other man didn’t even know it.

As he was thinking, he felt his phone vibrate.

S: I'm nervous because you won't like my surprise. 

Tony felt his face grow warm. Steve was worried about impressing _him_?

He didn't know what to say next as he took a deep breath. So, he decided to be the reassuring one for a change.

T: I guarantee you, I will love the surprise no matter what it is.

S: I know, but I'm not sure if it's good enough...

T: The fact that you're surprising me with something is good enough already! I'm so excited for tomorrow that I can barely wait. I'll love whatever it is, I promise.

S: I should probably head to sleep, but I want to thank you. I was so anxious… I don't even know why! You're amazing.

T: No problem. Goodnight Steve.

S: Goodnight Neighbor.

Tony made a mental note to text Peter about his conversation with Steve later, shutting his phone down and closing his eyes.

He slept perfectly for the rest of the night.

________________________________________

Tony stretched, spreading his arms as far as they would go before falling back on the bed.

Letting out a low sigh, he checked his phone. Seeing a notification for text messages from Peter, Tony couldn't help but smile.

P: Sorry, I was sleeping when you texted me :)  
P: Just stay true to yourself Dad. Steve likes you for who you are, I promise  
P: Don't be too nervous!  
P: I believe in you <3

Tony grinned, thinking about the texts as he began tackling his morning routine.  
________________________________________

Trying not to be a bad guest, Tony showed up at Steve's door ten minutes early. Glancing around the hallway, he lightly knocked on the other man's door, careful to be quiet so he wouldn't wake anyone up.

Tony heard walking from inside the apartment, and soon Steve was opening the door, smiling at him from ear to ear.

“Hey Neighbor.”

Tony didn't know how to reply as Steve gestured him inside, looking like an excited puppy. “Okay okay, I'll show you around my apartment and then we can go to the surprise. It's kind of far away, it's by the park on- Uh, nevermind. That would give it away.”

Steve rambled as Tony walked into his first room, a small kitchen. It was almost identical to his own, with the same white cabinets and grey dappled countertops. The only difference was the refrigerator- instead of Peter's grades taped to it, there were multiple cooking recipes and drawings of various landscapes. Tony silently wondered if Steve was the one who drew them, before he was interrupted by the other man’s speaking.

“Okay, this is my kitchen- I'm always teaching myself new techniques and recipes for work, so It's my most important room in the apartment. Now, let's head to my living room-” Steve said, radiating energy.

Tony followed him, finding himself in a living room with a long black couch and two green chairs. There were faces of friends hanging in picture frames on the walls- an unknown red-haired girl and a dark skinned short-haired guy, along with Bucky. Tony whirled around, hearing Steve move on to his bedroom.

“Sorry, but we only have eight minutes left here and we have to rush so we can get to the surprise on time.” Steve insisted, frantically opening the door to his bedroom.

It was an identical layout to Tony's room, with windows that curled around an entire section of wall. But there was a more enchanting feel to Steve's room, which had a large rustic bed with a similar nightstand and dresser. 

Steve jogged over to one of the windows.“Come over here…”

Tony walked behind him, staring out the window at the blue expanse of Manhattan’s skyline. 

Steve sighed. “I mean, this was half the reason I bought this apartment. Sometimes I'll just sit here and paint it, trying to capture it. But it never turns out as good as the real thing…”

“You paint?” Tony asked him, the drawings and sketches that hung on the refrigerator finally making sense.

“Yeah.” Steve said, stopping his staring out of the window to look at Tony. “I'm not very good, but…”

“Come on, your drawings are gorgeous. I saw some in the kitchen, they took my breath away!” Tony enthused, giving Steve a huge smile.

“Thank you…” Steve laughed, his face turning red.

“No problem.”

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds longer before Steve took a deep breath, checking his watch. “We have a tiny amount of time to check out the other bedroom, and then we'll leave. Sound like a plan?”

Tony gave a single nod, following Steve out of his bedroom, crossing the living room and heading into an empty room.

“This used to be Bucky’s room when we were roommates, if you were wondering why it's empty…”

Gazing around the blue walls and hardwood floor, Tony saw spiderwebs and dust hiding in corners of the room. 

“He slept over here-” Steve gestured to a corner in the room, marks of where a bed must have been on the hardwood floor. “But he's got a different place now, in Brooklyn...”

Tony watched Steve exhale slowly, looking at his watch again before turning to him. “I think we have to leave now.”

Tony nodded, “Okay. Are we going on the subway or in a car?”

“My car.” Steve said, grinning. “I have a space over there, so we won't have to worry about parking.”

“Okay. That's good, I hate the subway…”

Steve nodded at him as they walked out of the room. “Me too.”

They passed the living room and the kitchen, exiting his apartment and going into the hallway. Tony stood by Steve as he shut his door, locking it and putting the key into his pocket.

“Good thing you remembered your key this time.” Tony laughed, making Steve roll his eyes.

“Don't remind me. I won't make _that_ mistake again.”

They walked down the stairs side by side, reminding Tony of the last time they had gone down the steps with each other. Peter was missing, Tony was scared, and Steve was there helping him. He was always there for him.

The thought brought a smile to Tony's face.

They got to the lobby, exiting through the front door. Tony stepped on the first stair leading to the sidewalk, pausing when Steve started laughing. 

“What?” He asked, Steve attempting to stop his laughter behind his hand.

“Any ice down there? Don't want to trip and almost-fall like last time.” He joked, making Tony roll his eyes.

“Maybe I need someone to hold my hand again.” Tony retorted.

That made Steve blush, but chuckle nonetheless. “You know what? Maybe I will hold your hand… again.”

Tony didn't know how to explain the feeling that washed over him as a hand inched towards his. All he could do was unite their fingers, drawing in a tight breath as Steve squeezed his hand. After a few tenuous seconds they began to walk again, falling into each other's steps and making their way to his car.

Tony felt Steve hum happily, taking his car keys out as he unlocked his door. He noticed they were still holding hands, even as they started to move closer towards the passenger’s seat.

Letting out a small sigh, Tony let go of Steve reluctantly. They each climbed into their respective seats, Steve starting up the car as if it had never happened. 

But Tony still felt the way Steve had squeezed his hand as they walked, the way the other man looked like he was the happiest person in the world. 

Somehow, he had a feeling he would never forget that image- Steve smiling like he was on top of the world, gripping Tony's hand like his life depended on it. It was ingrained in his memory.

________________________________________

What did Tony say to Steve now? Thank you? It was nice holding hands with you, can we do it again? The thought made him flush, and Tony was suddenly glad Steve was focused so intently on driving. 

Luckily, Steve initiated conversation first. “So, have you talked to Peter at all since he left?”

Tony suddenly groaned, sighing as he took out his phone.

“What's wrong?”

“It's Peter- he texted me this morning and I forgot to text him back... I hope he's not mad at me.”

“Peter could never get mad at you.” Steve said, the engine of his old car running to a purr as he approached a red light.

“Yeah, sometimes I wish he _could_ get mad at me.” Tony sighed, shooting a quick “love you” text to Peter.

Steve tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Well… Peter rarely makes trouble, he gets good grades, he does everything he can to help around the house. He's the best kid I could've asked for, but I can tell he's unhappy because-”

The red light turned green. Steve drove over an uneven patch of road, making the conversation halt to a stop. They continued on the bumpy road for ten minutes, Tony having no idea what they had been talking about when they got on smooth streets again.

Tony took note of their surroundings, heading into a part of the city he didn't recognize. There were shops with bare displays, apartments with boarded windows, and broken bottles littering the sidewalk.

Tony bit his lip nervously. “Uh Steve- Where are we?”

“Don't worry,” Steve said, glancing at Tony briefly. “This is just a shortcut…”

They curved down another street, going past slightly more recognizable buildings. Finally, about a couple blocks from an ambiguous church and a luxury apartment complex, Steve parked.

Tony walked outside, immediately glad he had brought his overcoat with him- despite how ridiculously heavy it looked. A cold blast of wind rushed for him as he walked to Steve, happening again as they squinted their way to a tall door.

Tony's heart went offbeat as he watched Steve take out a pair of keys, shoving them into a keyhole. He unlocked the doors, opening them as they headed into an unknown building.

Tony refused to believe it, looking around in utter shock.

It was a tiny restaurant, with brick walls and romantic lighting that flickered on when Steve flipped a switch. 

“This is the restaurant I work at… My boss let me borrow it for a little bit. I'm cooking you lunch.”

“You're making me lunch? Steve… thank you.”

Tony couldn't have asked for a better surprise. 

Steve grinned. “I just thought it would be a good way to repay all the things you've done for me- all the ways you've helped me in the past month. I really owe you a lot, and I wanted to do something for you…”

Tony couldn't help but smile while Steve talked. The way he widened his eyes as he spoke, the way his hair glistened in the amber light of the restaurant, the way his button-down shirt stretched tightly across his torso-

“Tony?”

“Yes?” Tony shook his head, leaving his thoughts.

“I asked where you wanted to sit. You can choose anywhere in the entire restaurant.” Steve said, gesturing at the various tables and chairs scattered around the small space.

Tony looked around the room, noticing a separation between a brick wall in the back of the restaurant. It was dark, in a place where the dim lights couldn't quite meet. 

“What's over there?” He asked.

An expression of recognition crossed Steve's face. “Oh, I almost forgot about that. It’s stairs to a second level. We usually reserve it for special occasions, like weddings receptions and things like that. Believe it or not, it's better up there than it is down here.”

Tony tilted his head. “Really? How?”

“It's amazing. They put more thought into the second floor than any other place in this building.” Steve beamed.

“Can we… eat up there?” Tony asked hesitantly.

“Yeah. It's… It takes forever to walk up. But it's worth it for the view. It's even better than my apartment’s view, trust me. We're eating up there.” Steve said assuredly, grabbing a pair of cloth napkins and a menu.

Tony followed Steve through the copper colored tables and cushiony chairs of the restaurant, wondering how the upstairs could ever top the downstairs. The restaurant was already one of the fanciest places Tony had ever been in, and he was surprised that there was a room that was even better above it.

It was exciting, and Tony couldn't calm his thoughts as they approached the staircase.

When they finally started walking up the stairs, Tony couldn't see much- save for the bright lights coming through at the top of it. But as he got closer to the light he moved faster up the stairs, drawing closer and closer to the top until-

“Wow…”

He tried to steal a glance at everything. Everytime he looked around the room he had something new to gawk at. 

Windows managed to cover an entire front wall, with a view that had Tony speechless. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling, shining gold with a hint of silver. There were about twenty tables, all circular except for a square table with two chairs. The table was in the best part of the room, the closest to the window with the most sunlight in the area.

Steve grinned, turning to look back at Tony, who nodded. It was perfect.

Tony followed Steve toward the table, suddenly noticing the stone floor under his feet. The walls were also was made of stone, and Tony realized that there was a waterfall made of small rocks in the corner of the room that was running.

Every part of the room seemed to be a surprise.

“Okay,” Steve said, setting down napkins and the menu. 

Tony sat down on a comfortable white chair. He took off his overcoat, grabbing the menu and smiling softly. “You made this menu just for me?”

Steve laughed, “Yeah…”

The title of the menu read _Tony's Menu_. Different options for his meal went down the whole sheet, and at the end, Steve had signed his name in black ink.

Steve sat down across from Tony. “We can eat anything you want. I picked out every dish on this menu for you.”

Tony let himself grin, reading all of the options carefully. 

Finally, he looked up at Steve. “I can't decide. Which is your favorite?”

“Hmm… Well, the garlic penne is great, and shrimp salad is also really good. But my favorite is the angel hair carbonara… I have this trick to make it extra creamy, and it's one of our most popular dishes.” Steve said, his eyes lighting up enthusiastically.

“Okay, I'll get the carbonara then.”

Steve stood up, walking close to Tony and grabbing the menu from him. He turned around to leave, before quickly coming back to the table. 

“I almost forgot- Did you want something to drink?”

“Just a water.” 

Steve left the room and Tony took his phone out of his jeans. He touched the home button, immediately seeing a flurry of texts from Peter.

P: Love you too dad!  
P: How's Steve?  
P: Anything new?

Tony rewrote his text about ten times before finally sending something.

T: He took me to the restaurant he works at to make me lunch. It's really fancy...

P: That's so cool!  
P: Take a picture for me

Tony read Peter's last text and looked around the room. He opened the camera on his phone, capturing the most interesting part of the area. He made sure that the picture wasn't blurry, sending it to Peter as he waited for a response.

P: Wow  
P: I can't believe Steve took you there  
P: He must really like you ;)

T: There's a downstairs too  
T: I can take a picture of it for you

P: Yeah, I really want to see it

Tony sighed, getting up out of his chair and jogging to the staircase. He stepped down slowly, careful not to make too much noise. He knew Steve wouldn't care too much about him being down there, but he still didn't want to embarrass himself in any way.

He got to the end of the staircase, looking around the nice restaurant. It was just like he remembered, only now he noticed giant doors leading to a kitchen on the right. 

He felt nervous as he leaned closer to the kitchen door, hearing Steve humming a tune as he chopped something. What if he went in there? Just to watch him cook for a few seconds. He was so curious...

He bumped one of the doors open, watching Steve completely engrossed in his chopping. He was in his natural state- a genuine smile on his face as he moved around his station effortlessly. 

He looked so happy, and Tony's heart ached. He wanted to tell Steve how much he liked him right then and there, but he knew he couldn't. Not when he could mess up the whole evening by Steve rejecting him. Not when they still had their walk in the park.

Tony crawled away from the kitchen and walked back into the dining area, Steve's expression still caught in his mind.

Why was he there again?

Oh. Peter. Picture. Right.

Tony took a picture of the space, sending it to Peter and walking back up the steps.

P: Looks sophisticated.

Tony smirked as he read the text. Peter was so entertaining.

T: It is

Tony bit his lip, typing another response.

T: I wish you could be here Pete. 

He held his breath, watching Peter read the text. A few seconds later, he responded.

P: No! You need to be alone! It's your first time really hanging out with Steve by yourself  
P: I would just ruin it! 

Tony reached the top of the steps, rays of sunlight streaming through the windows as he walked over to his table. It felt so nice, the sun warming him as he sat at his chair. 

He leaned back on his seat, texting Peter as he looked out the window. 

T: Come on, you wouldn't ruin anything  
T: Steve loves you

Steve walked up the stairs at that moment, carrying a glistening glass of water with him. He looked amazing, a big smile plastered on his face as walked towards Tony. Once he made it to the table he set the glass down, turning to leave before he stopped.

“Is the sun too bright for you? There's some other tables in the shade.”

Tony grinned. “It's perfect. I love the sunlight. And the view.”

Steve’s cheeks turned red as he stared at Tony. “Me too.”

“Yeah…”

They stared at each other for a few seconds too long, Steve quickly clearing his throat and backing away once he noticed. 

“Um… I should go back down and start cooking again…”

“Yeah, I get it. Thank you though. For this.”

Steve shrugged. “You deserve it. You're the most interesting man I've ever met. You… I feel like…”

“We were supposed to meet each other?” Tony said. He knew exactly what Steve meant.

“Yes. I feel like I was _supposed_ to loose my keys that day.”

“I do too.” Tony nodded.

Steve smiled and shot him a goodbye, disappearing down the staircase.

Tony took out his phone again, hearing a text message from Peter.

P: No way. Steve loves you more

Tony somehow had trouble arguing with that.

________________________________________

Exactly twenty minutes later a wonderful smell filled the room, followed by heavy steps coming up the stairs.

“Wow.” Tony said, watching Steve carry two dishes of carbonara.

It already looked amazing, and Tony suddenly felt starving. It was still a relatively early lunch for him- eleven o’clock was more breakfast if anything. But it looked incredible to him, and he found himself instinctively grabbing a fork.

Steve put their dishes down, sitting across from Tony as he held up his water glass.

“A toast.”

Tony laughed and held his water up too. “To what?”

Steve grinned. “To becoming friends.”

They clinked their glasses, sipping them before setting them down again. 

After setting his glass down, Tony immediately dug into his dish. He let out a satisfied moan when he ate his first bite, making Steve look up from his dish.

“This is amazing.” Tony sighed, taking another forkful of the pasta.

Steve looked flustered, his face red as he stuttered slightly. “Um- Thanks, I'm glad you- uh- like it a lot.”

Tony kept eating, taking another sip of his water. “So, how often do you work here?”

“Every week. I usually only do lunch though, not dinner. That makes my hours a lot more convenient. We have a lot of other chefs here, and I mainly do sauces and chopping. I'm really good at that stuff specifically.” Steve responded.

“That's good. You have a good job.”

“Do you do anything?” Steve asked.

“I… actually don't have a job right now. I'm mainly a freelance computer programmer, so I can work from home most of the time. I'm actually in the works with something right now. But it's something for myself.”

“What is it?” Steve asked, tilting his head.

“Well, it’s called JARVIS. Think of Siri but smarter. Something that can do almost everything for you, who can give you advice if you ask for it. Real artificial intelligence.”

“Sounds…”

“Ambitious?” Tony laughed. “I know, it'll never happen. I've coded so much some days that my hands cramp from typing. But if I can just figure it out…”

“You'd be the richest man in the world.” Steve said, picking up his glass of water.

“Yeah. But I don't care about that. I just want to invent something. Anything really. I want to make Peter proud of me.”

Steve smiled genuinely, stopping mid-drink, his water glass just reaching his lips. “You're a great dad Tony.”

“I… I just love him. So much. I'd do anything for him.”

There was a strange look in Steve's eyes that made Tony's heart beat faster. “That’s amazing.”

“What is?” Tony asked.

“That you say that. It… It shows a lot about your character. You're a loyal person.”

He was loyal? He was apparently, because how could he deny it when Steve looked at him like _that_. 

“Thank you Steve.”

They ate in silence for a few minutes, and soon Tony noticed his plate was nearly empty. He peered at Steve's plate, noticing he was almost finished as well. 

He felt full, so he put down his fork and stopped eating. Tony took the moment to watch Steve's distracted eyes, which were staring out the window at the city skyline. They were the first thing he noticed about Steve when they met- pure blue with a subtle hint of green. Bright and piercing. Gorgeous, just like him.

Steve noticed Tony's staring and put down his fork. “Full?”

“Huh? Oh- yeah.” 

“Me too.” Steve said, throwing his napkin off his lap as he stood up.

Tony smirked. “What are you doing?”

“Leaving.” Steve said, grabbing both of their plates. “For our walk?”

Tony's stomach twisted. The walk. Where he was supposed to confess his feelings for Steve. 

“Oh, yeah.”

“Okay, I just have to wash these dishes and we can leave.”

Steve started walking to the staircase, dishes in his hands. Tony took his overcoat off his chair, following closely behind him. 

It was happening. It wasn't a dream. He was going to tell Steve how he felt.  
________________________________________

They made it to the park, a lush place filled with evergreen trees. The chill of winter made Tony shiver, grabbing tightly at this jacket. He felt an arm draw close to him, and Steve held his hand.

“I hate the cold.” Steve smiled.

Tony laughed, watching his breath in the air. They walked around, hand in hand, not speaking. Just enjoying each other's warmth.

Until Tony let go of Steve. His heart started beating faster, his head spinning. He tried to focus on anything but the questioning look on Steve's face. The gravel under his feet. The wooden bench behind them. The light snow falling between them.

Eventually, he found Steve's eyes.

“Steve, I need to tell you something.”

Steve nodded, an encouraging look on his face. Tony's palms started to sweat as he let out a breath.

“From day one, I realized how special you were. You made me feel nervous. You're the first person to ever make me feel that way. Like I couldn't talk to you in fear of ruining something. Until Peter went missing. You were so calm. You didn't say I was a bad father, you helped me. You didn't judge me in the slightest. I finally felt comfortable around you.”

Tony paused, his heart beating out of his chest. He was going to do it. He had to.

“That's when I realized that I had feelings for you. I couldn't stop them, I was so caught up and I couldn't help but feel that way and I hope you feel the same but if you don't that's fine but-”

Lips captured his own, and his heart stopped beating. He stopped breathing. He just paused.

Steve pulled away. Tony noticed that they were still inches apart. They were both breathing so heavily.

“You feel the same?” Tony questioned, his lips tingling from where Steve had kissed him.

“I always have Tony. I never realized it until I went looking for Peter with you, but… I also have feelings for you.”

Tony felt dizzy. Was he dreaming? It all felt too good to be true.

Steve ran his hand along Tony's cheek, tracing his jaw. “I don't even want to make dinner anymore Tony. I just want to sit with you all night. I want to talk to you for hours. I want to kiss you.”

“Then let's do it.” Tony laughed. “What's stopping us?”

Steve grinned. “Do you want to head back to my apartment now?”

Tony nodded softly. 

A few minutes later, in the passenger’s seat of Steve's car, Tony rested his head on his neighbor's shoulder.

“Thank you Steve.”

“For what?” Steve asked, glancing down at Tony as he reached a red light.

“For the best Christmas I've ever had.”


	5. Bucky’s Bakery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky owns a bakery. Steve invites Tony to said bakery. Tony learns more about a different side of Bucky.

Tony poured himself some coffee, checking his text messages for the fiftieth time that morning. 

Still nothing…

He turned his kitchen light on, sighing softly. His head pounded from lack of sleep and he couldn’t help but be disappointed at Steve not responding after last night.

Tony sipped his coffee, smiling as he remembered the feeling of Steve’s lips on his. They had watched a movie together and chatted back at his apartment, and Tony went to bed that night way later than he planned to.

It was amazing.

What wasn’t amazing was the way Tony’s face twisted when he looked at his unresponded text messages. He saw that Steve read them, (about two hours ago to be exact), but the other man had yet to text something back.

Tony decided to get some work done while he was waiting, and he strided over to the desk in his bedroom with his phone in his hand and his coffee in the other. His phone suddenly buzzed, and Tony read the texts from Steve while his mouth widened in slight surprise.

S: I want you to meet my friends today  
S: They all work at Bucky’s Bakery  
S: You should meet me there  
S: I’m sure they’ll give us a free dessert :)

Curling his fingers around his phone as he reread the messages, he sighed. He didn’t particularly want to meet the distant and mysterious Bucky again, but he supposed he could smile through it for Steve. 

T: Meet you there

________________________________________

The bakery was a few blocks from the beach of Coney Island, which made it a solid thirty minute drive for Tony. He could’ve taken a subway, but there wasn’t really a stop close to his house. That, mixed with his hatred of all public transportation, made driving the obvious choice.

The only thing he brought was his coat, his wallet, and his phone- opting to travel with as little items as possible. Putting his hands on the wheel and exhaling deeply, he started the half hour drive.

________________________________________

He drove closer and closer to the bakery, finally seeing an oval sign with the words “Bucky’s Bakery” inside of it. He briefly watched person after person waiting in a line streaming out the door, and he gasped as he saw people stretched around the sidewalk. 

He somehow found a parking spot a couple blocks away, and paid for the space as he started walking towards the bakery. A cool wind swept through the air, and Tony felt it sting his cheeks as he turned the corner. A wonderful smell drifted over to him, and he pushed through the crowds of people blocking the entrance to walk through the front doors.

A modern white space with sparse seating greeted him. It was insanely crowded for the day after Christmas, and Tony wondered what was so special about the small Bakery. But he didn’t have to wonder much longer, seeing Steve making his way through person after person toward him. 

He was wearing a tight t-shirt and loose jeans, with a smile that could stop traffic. Tony took note of the cupcake in his hand, which was red with white frosting. 

“Hey Tony.” He grinned. “Thanks for making it over here. I know it isn’t an easy drive.”

“It’s not a big deal.” Tony said, swatting his hand nonchalantly. “I’m excited to meet your friends.”

“I’m glad. I uh- saved us a nice spot by the window. I know there’s a lot of people here, so I made sure to get us a- Tony? What are you doing?”

Tony spotted a dot of vanilla frosting on Steve’s cheek, and brought his hand slowly to where it was. He quickly swiped it off, making sure all of it was gone before swiping the frosting from his thumb on his jeans.

“W- what?” Steve stuttered.

“I was just cleaning off a bit of frosting for you.” Tony said, pecking the place on his cheek where it had been.

“Oh, Uh- Thanks…” 

They stared at each other, and Tony had the sudden urge to kiss Steve right there, ignoring everyone and everything as he pulled the other man closer. But he saw someone out of the corner of his eye run toward them, and he watched Steve turn away reluctantly.

“Hey Steve, been awhile since you’ve dropped by.” The man approaching them said, giving Steve a quick pat on the back.

“Yeah, I came down to Brooklyn to run some errands and thought I’d stop here, just to see everyone again.” Steve said.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here!” The man exclaimed, shooting Steve a quick smile before noticing Tony. “Who’s this?”

“Uh, I thought I’d let you and Nat meet my…” Steve hesitated, his friend watching with a smirk plastered on his face.

“Is that your boyfriend Bucky told me about?” Sam asked, his smirk disappearing into genuine curiosity.

Tony flushed. His friends were already talking about him? They had only been dating for 12 hours.

“Yup. That’s him. Tony. My boyfriend.”

The friend grinned and struck out his hand. “Sam Wilson.”

“Hi.” Tony said, shaking hands with him.

Sam let go and turned to Steve. “I would find a seat if I were you. This time of the day has been really busy. Especially without you here.”

“I already found a place to sit-” Steve pointed to a table with a large jacket on it. “If you and Nat want to join us once it calms down in here, you can talk to us for a few seconds.”

“It might be awhile, but Buck can usually handle it by himself once it gets past breakfast hour.” Sam nodded.

“Maybe he could join us too?” Steve asked, looking hopefully at Sam.

“He still has to bake some stuff, but after that he can probably get another guy on the job. So, yeah- He can join us too.”

Steve grinned. “Thanks. I know that this is really last minute, but it means a lot to me that you-“

Sam laughed. “Yeah yeah, I know. It’s not a problem man-”

“ _Sam_! Get back here!” A red haired woman with a black apron yelled from the front counter.

“Listen, I gotta go. I’ll see you in a few.”

Steve let out a small “bye”, turning to Tony and sighing. “I forgot to tell you, I actually used to work here. With Sam and Bucky and that woman at the counter. Her name is Natasha.”

Tony glanced at Steve anxiously. “Yeah? Am I going to meet her? She looks kind of… Intense.”

“Don’t be nervous. She’ll love you, trust me.”

The truth was, Tony was terrified. If Steve’s friends didn’t like him, then he would probably have a problem on his hands. As if Peter and the divorce weren’t enough, he’d have to deal with three overprotective best friends on his back. 

Needless to say, he did _not_ want that.

Steve cleared his throat, interrupting Tony’s thoughts. “Why don’t we head over to our table. I saved a cupcake for you.” 

“Okay.”

They made their way through the crowd, ending up at a small table with two comfortable brown chairs. Steve went to the closest chair, pulling it out and gesturing for Tony to sit down.

“What a gentleman.” Tony teased, making Steve laugh.

“I try.” He responded, sitting at the other chair. “Here-”

He handed a red velvet cupcake to Tony, who grinned. “How did you know red velvet is my favorite?”

“Lucky guess. Peter might’ve also helped me.”

Tony tilted his head. How close were they? He had assumed they were friends, but he didn’t know Steve had Peter’s number. Maybe his son had been talking to Steve for longer than he originally thought.

“Do you want me to get something for you to drink? There’s some coffee, or I can get you a water…” Steve asked, watching as Tony picked up the cupcake.

“It’s fine, you don’t have to buy me anything. Plus, you’d have to wait in that super long line…”

“Oh- I don’t have wait in the line. Bucky lets me go behind the counter all the time, so I usually just do that and then I pay for stuff.”

“I’ll just have a water then.” Tony said, taking a bite of his cupcake.

“How is it?” Steve asked, a nervous edge to his voice. 

“It’s amazing. Goddamn. Wow.” Tony said, completely shocked.

“I actually made that recipe.” Steve enthused, “I worked on it with Bucky a long time ago, and it hasn’t changed since. I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it. Thank you Steve.” Tony took another bite. “Ugh. You spoil me with food.”

Steve laughed, standing out of his chair. “I’ll go get you that water.”

Tony ate his cupcake, the slight hint of cocoa mixed with the soft cream cheese frosting melting in his mouth. It was possibly the best dessert he’d ever had, and the fact that Steve created the recipe just made it better.

Steve came back a few minutes later, and Tony realized his cupcake was already gone. “It… It was a really good cupcake.”

Steve chuckled. “Thank you. Here-”

Tony grabbed a water bottle out of Steve’s hands, breaking it open and sipping it.

“So, when are your friends going to be done?” 

Steve bit his lip, eyeing the crowd behind them. “I’d say… a couple minutes.”

Tony nodded in agreement. The cluster of people behind them had turned into a small group, and the ridiculously long line had now grown considerably shorter. His friends were probably going to be done at any second, and Tony quickly made sure he looked presentable, checking his shirt for crumbs and combing his fingers through his hair.

“You look great.” Steve smiled.

“Is everything okay?” Tony asked, leaning toward Steve so he could get a better look.

“Hold on…” Steve also leaned forward, tucking a piece of Tony’s hair back into place. “There you go.”

“Thanks.”

They sat there quietly for a few moments, enjoying the light noise around them and the aroma of coffee and sugar. That is, until Steve decided to look at Tony with an expression of utter confusion on his face.

“Why are you so nervous about meeting them?”

“What?”

“My friends.” Steve elaborated. “Why are you nervous?”

“Um… I guess I just want to make a good impression.” 

Steve nodded and looked past Tony. “Oh- Hey Nat!”

Right on cue, Natasha walked toward them. She had a plate of cookies in her hand and a smile on her face, and she set the plate down and hugged Steve.

“Ugh, you haven’t been around at all.” She sighed, squeezing Steve tightly. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just… been a lot. Living in Queens- I miss it here.” Steve sighed, letting go of Natasha. 

“But it hasn’t been too bad, right?” Natasha said, glancing at Tony and smirking.

Steve laughed. “Yeah. This is Tony.”

“Hi. I’m Steve’s boyfriend. But you definitely know that already.” Tony said, shaking hands with Natasha.

“Yup. Bucky told me a week ago about this attractive guy that Steve had a crush on-”

“Nat…” Steve groaned.

“Okay okay, I won’t embarrass you.” She chuckled, turning back to Tony. “If there’s one thing you should know about all of us, it’s that we like to talk. Steve isn’t even that talkative, but he gossiped around us.”

“I don’t believe it!” Tony faked shock and Natasha burst out laughing.

“I think I like you, Tony.” She said, pulling an empty chair up to their table.

Tony watched Steve hide a pleased grin behind his hand. 

“So, how’s the restaurant been?” She asked, sitting down on the chair and taking a cookie off the plate.

“It’s been okay.” Steve sighed. “I just kind of miss it here. It’s just a lot harder, and the people aren’t as… interesting I guess…”

Natasha shrugged her shoulders. “You know you can always come back if you need to.”

“Well, I’m learning to get used to it. How’s the bakery been?”

The two friends talked, and Tony found himself losing track of the conversation. There was a moment where he panicked, trying to somehow insert himself so he wouldn’t seem boring. Luckily, Steve noticed how anxious he looked and changed the subject.

“Tony actually has a son.”

“Oh really?” Natasha asked, a look of slight intrigue on her face.

“Yeah, I have a teenager. He’s the best kid anyone could ask for. He… kind of set Steve and I up.”

“He made it all happen? That’s so cute. I bet he’s so happy you guys are dating.” Natasha said.

“Um… He actually doesn’t know yet. I haven’t told him we’re dating” Tony replied.

“I haven’t told him either.” Steve nodded. 

Natasha’s eyes widened in shock. “How? This poor kid needs to know you guys are dating! He’s the one who’s responsible for it all, right?” 

“Yeah, but he’s with my ex-wife right now. I’m waiting until he gets back home.” Tony sighed.

“Oh my god. Tell him as soon as he gets back. Oh- here comes Sam.” 

Sam walked toward them, taking off his apron and throwing it on the table.

“Hey! Don’t touch my cookies.” Natasha threw the apron back at him.

Sam caught it, pulling up a chair between Natasha and Steve. “I’m so tired. Bucky needs to hire more people or I’m quitting.”

“You would never!” Natasha pushed Sam, making him laugh.

“Yeah, you’re right. Unless I got a fancy new job at a restaurant in Queens.” He stared pointedly at Steve.

Steve rolled his eyes. “You’re still mad about this? I told you I’m sorry, what more do you-”

“I’m just joking man. I’m sorry. Besides, It probably worked out in the long run. I mean, you already found a boyfriend!”

“Yeah. I did.”

Tony watched Steve turn to stare at him. His blue eyes trailed over him, stopping at his brown ones.

Tony’s heart was beating in his ears.

“Okay you two. Please keep it for the bedroom.” Natasha sighed, handing Sam a cookie.

________________________________________

The rest of the conversations were less eventful- they didn’t talk about Peter again, and they ignored Steve’s past drama with leaving the bakery. It was fine, but after an hour of waiting for Bucky, it seemed like everyone had reached their limit for social interaction.

“Well, Sam and I should probably get back, it’s busy again…” Natasha said after a few minutes of aimless chatting.

Tony watched her stand, stretching before turning around and meeting face-to-face with Bucky.

She jumped back, “Jesus Bucky- you came out of nowhere! What took you so long?”

“I’m sorry Nat… I had a disaster back there.” He sighed, exhaustion clear on his face.

She crossed her arms. “What happened?”

“You know how the cookie dough has to be at a certain temperature or else it won’t taste as good?”

“Sure.”

“Well, the refrigerator malfunctioned. It went way way colder than it should’ve. If it was a few degrees off it’d be fine, but it was bad. I had to remake all of the batches.”

“Why didn’t you ask us for help?” Steve asked, Natasha quickly agreeing with him.

“Yeah, especially Nat and I. We could’ve jumped in for you.” Sam said, confusion etched across his face.

Bucky forced a smile. “Thanks guys. But I didn’t want to interrupt your time meeting Tony. It wasn’t fair. I already met him.”

It was kind of funny… Tony considered Bucky to be so intimidating. Yet here he was, being so caring and sympathetic toward his friends.

Maybe Tony had misjudged him.

“I promise, I’ll be around with you guys next time…” Bucky sighed.

Tony let out a breath. “Um, you can come over to my apartment to hang out later if you want- with Steve and I.”

Tony didn’t know what came over him, he usually wasn’t that sociable unless he was forced to be. But Bucky looked so disappointed, like he had missed out on something really important…

Bucky nodded. “Sure.”

Relief washed over Tony, and he saw Steve let out a grateful sigh at the other end of the table. “We’ll see you whenever you can make it over.”

“I’ll be there.”

________________________________________

“Why did Bucky look so upset?” Tony asked a few hours later, sitting down on his couch with his head on Steve’s shoulder as they waited for the man in question.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. He looked kind of disappointed. Like he was missing out on something when all we were doing was talking with Sam and Natasha.”

Steve tilted his head to the side, staring off in though. “Yeah… I see what you mean. It might be because he felt bad.”

“About what?”

Steve shrugged. “Not sure. Maybe he really wanted to meet you again. I’m glad he likes you.”

“He does?” 

“Yup. All my friends do.”

Tony let out a breath. “Thank god. I wasn’t sure with Sam. Even Natasha had me worried.”

“I knew they’d love you.”

Tony heard a sudden ringing in Steve’s pocket, and Steve moved away to take out his phone.

“It’s Peter. I wonder what he wants.” Steve said, pressing the green answer button.

Tony watched him hold the phone to his ear, his eyes squinted in confusion as a muffled voice rang through the phone.

“Kid, you’re going to have to talk slower.” Steve sighed.

A slightly slower voice echoed through the room, but Tony still couldn’t make out the words. Steve held the phone as close to his ear as possible, finally pausing and laughing once Peter’s talking ceased.

“Why did you call me about this? You should’ve called your dad.”

Tony watched as Steve handed the phone to him. He took it, pressing it to his ear. “...hello?”

“Dad?! You’re with Steve?! Oh my god.”

“Petey, why did you call Steve?”

Peter scoffed. “That’s not important now. I need to know why you’re with _him_. Oh my god, my plan worked!”

Tony rolled his eyes. “No, Steve and I aren’t dating. You can calm down.”

But, it was a lie. Oh god, it was a _huge_ lie. Tony watched Steve widen his eyes as Peter sighed dejectedly.

“Okay, it hasn’t worked for now. But my plan will work. Anyway, I was wondering if I could come back home tonight. Mom can’t take me tomorrow. Work or something.”

Tony cursed inwardly. Of course it had to be tonight. The one night he actually had people over.

“Can’t you stay home alone for tonight? I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

“Daddddd…” Peter groaned. “Why can’t I come home?”

“Because I have friends over.”

“Come on. You never have friends over.” His son replied.

“Alright. That’s it. Goodbye.”

“Wait wait wait Dad-“

Tony cut off the call, chuckling to himself slightly.

“What happened?” Steve asked, sitting back down on the couch.

“Ugh. I… lied. Said we weren’t dating. I completely panicked. Then he asked to come over tonight, but Bucky’s here.”

“What a mess.” Steve said, wrapping his arms around Tony.

“Agreed. But we need to seriously tell Peter. Together, once he gets back from his Mom’s place.”

“You want me there too?” Steve beamed.

“Of course. You’re… a part of our family.”

And it was perfect. They were staring into each other’s eyes, they were inches apart-

A knock came at the door.

Steve gave Tony a look infused with surprise and sheepishness. “He’s early, huh?”

“I guess so…”

Shifting away from Steve and standing up, Tony made his way to the front door. He reached for the handle, opening it to see Bucky’s face staring back at him.

“Hey! How are you?” Tony asked, opening his door as Steve came rushing next to him.

“Great. Thanks for inviting me here, it means a lot.”

Bucky took his jacket off, which Steve grabbed from him and placed on a nearby kitchen chair. Tony watched Bucky look around, taking in the modern space and the dozens of photos.

“Is that your son? Peter?” Bucky asked, pointing to a photo of Tony and Peter in front of the Brooklyn Bridge.

It was a photo they took together after visiting Brooklyn for the day. Coming closer to the picture, Tony chuckled, “Yeah, that’s him.”

It had been taken after a long day of walking around, and you could see the slight tiredness in Peter’s posture and Tony’s slightly forced smile. But the view they had was worth the mile of wandering they had to do to get there. 

Bucky grinned, “I’ll have to meet him one day,”

“I’m sure he’d love to meet you, he likes everyone.”

“It’s true.” Steve laughed.

“Okay, right now we have a couple movies we could watch, we have some drinks we could make, and we have a digital recipe for cookies. Though, that’s not going to work, considering you’re a baker…”

Cutting in with a chuckle, Bucky shook his head. “With my current state, I’ll never be able to make cookies for fun again. But maybe we could do a movie and drinks…”  
________________________________________

Tony was coiled into Steve, resting his head on his arm as Bucky sat on the other side of the sofa. They were watching some obscure horror movie, one that Bucky recommended and Steve crinkled his nose at. The script was terrible, but it was scary enough that they were thoroughly entertained by the end.

And when it did end, Steve flew off the couch, whispering to Tony that he needed to grab something. 

“What are you getting?”

“I’m not telling you, It’s a surprise.” He responded.

“Huh?”

By that time Bucky had noticed, and he tilted his head along with Tony. “Steve, what the hell are you up to?”

“I’ll be right back. I have to go to my apartment for two seconds.”

And like that, he was gone. An uncomfortable silence filled the room, and Bucky started laughing hysterically.

“He’s too much for me. Jesus Christ.”

Tony joined in the laughing, mostly to keep himself from wondering what Steve was getting him. God, that man spoiled him.

A few minutes later, Steve walked into the room. He was hiding something behind his back, a nervous flush to his cheeks.

“Okay, um- I- Uh, well…” Steve took a breath.

“He’s nervous around you.” Bucky whispered to Tony, smirking.

Tony grinned to himself.

“I painted this for you. Last night. I finally got the skyline right.”

Steve brought the canvas out from behind his back. Tony gasped.

Different shapes pierced a dark, starry sky. Dark blue water rippled across the bottom of the canvas. Paintbrush strokes highlighted the colors the skyscrapers reflected.

“It’s for you Tony.” Steve beamed.

It was beautiful, but it was too beautiful. Tony knew it wasn’t worth his apartment, it belonged in an art collection. Something more important than his cheap furniture and damaged walls.

“Steve, this is amazing. You have to sell this. Imagine how much money you’d get.” Tony insisted.

“I don’t want to sell it. It’s for you.”

Tony sighed. “I can’t take it Steve. It’s too good-”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “You guys are ridiculous. Tony, just take the painting.”

Tony finally relented, smiling and pulling Steve into a kiss. Bucky groaned, covering his eyes and taking out his phone.

“Thank you Steve. I love it.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I was kind of worried.” Steve said, making Bucky look up from his phone.

“Please Steve, you could draw a stick figure and it would look like it belonged in a museum.” Bucky said.

“C’mon, I’m not that good.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Why would you ever want to date him? He’s so stubborn. You both are!”

Steve laughed, throwing his arm around Tony’s waist. “Alright, should we call it a night?”

They all mutually agreed to leave. Steve kissed Tony on the cheek, walking out into the hallway to the apartment next door. Bucky hugged Tony, (“But I am _not_ kissing you on the cheek.”), and left soon after Steve.

Tony was finally alone, a painting in his hand and a bare space of wall in his room.


	6. Peter “Matchmaker” Stark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Steve finally tell Peter that they’re dating, and something starts to make sense for Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is super short!!! I’m really sorry, I’ve just been hella busy this week.

“Alright Steve, you ready for our mission?”

“You bet…”

Tony unlocked the doors to his car, glad that Steve decided to come along with him to pick up Peter. He knew it was a boring drive to Pepper’s, so it helped to have someone by his side on the way over.

Besides, it fit the occasion. Today was the day they were going to tell Peter they were dating. Unfortunately, they didn’t know how they were going to do it, or how Peter was going to react. The only thing Tony knew for certain is that they were both nervous as hell.

“Where does Pepper live anyway?” Steve asked, stepping inside the passenger’s seat.

“Manhattan. Right next to Central Park. It’s a nice location, but her place is tiny. I don’t even know if we can all fit in there.”

“Well, It’s gotta be really expensive to live in that area.” Steve said.

“Agreed.”

Tony started his car. It was a cold day, but his beat-up vehicle had somehow managed to overheat in the semi-bright sun. He cracked a window down on each side, breathing in the freezing air as he maneuvered his way out of his space.

“Do you mind the cold?” Tony asked Steve, pointing to his windows.

“You’re good. I’m used to it.”

Tony stopped at a red light and looked at Steve. “What do you mean?”

Steve shook his head. “Oh, just when I was younger. My family didn’t… Have a whole lot of money, so I’m used to being cold.”

“Oh…”

The light turned green.

After an astounding twenty minutes of silence, which never happened when Tony was with Steve, they reached Pepper’s apartment. Tony opened his door first, walking out and stretching his arms. Steve came out of the car a few moments after, standing beside Tony and pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to talk about my childhood like that in the car. I… I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Tony immediately turned around and shook his head, “No no no, that one was on me. I didn’t know what to say, and…”

“Dad!”

“Uh, Peter-”

Tony tried to compose himself, backing away from Steve as Peter wrapped his arms tightly around him.

“I couldn’t wait for you to come inside, so Mom said I could come out and meet you.” Peter said, a giant smile on his face. “I also brought my bags down here, so you don’t have to come up and say hi to her.”

“Why can’t I come up?” Tony asked, unwrapping his arms from Peter.

His son sighed and leaned up to his ear. “I think she’s jealous of Steve.”

“Really?” Tony whispered back, his eyes widening in shock.

Peter nodded and stepped back, turning to Steve and striking up a conversation. Tony just bit his lip, trying to process what Peter had said. Pepper was jealous of him? That never happened. Pepper was never jealous of anyone.

“Right Dad?”

“What?” Tony looked up at Peter, who was next to a laughing Steve. 

“Do you remember that time you were trying to teach me geometry, and you got so mad at me you threw a pencil at the wall?” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Come on, that was two years ago.”

“I’ll never let you live it down.” Peter giggled.

After a few more minutes of laughing from Steve, they hopped into the car. Steve sat next to Tony in the front, with Peter in the back seat despite his protesting.

“Okay, where should we go now?” Tony asked.

“What do you mean? Are we going somewhere?” Peter questioned.

“Well, we thought we should go somewhere. For breakfast.” 

“Can we go back home and have breakfast? I want to cook it with Steve.”

Tony looked at Steve. “Fine with you?”

“Sounds like a plan.”  
________________________________________

After a relatively uneventful car ride, Tony hopped out of the car with Steve and Peter trailing behind him. They ran up the steps, waiting as Tony opened the front door. After a few seconds of fiddling with the key, the door was open.

Peter immediately ran into the kitchen. “Okay, I think we should make pancakes. Ooh, and maybe some fresh orange juice? I learned how to make that in-”

Steve sighed in exhaustion, making Tony laugh. 

If it was anything like the last time they cooked together, they’d be a disaster. But Tony loved the both of them too much to tell them how bad of an idea it was. So he simply sat at the kitchen table, chuckling along whenever they would exchange words.

“Okay Peter, just open the jar of honey-”

“Where? Oh, over here-”

“No, that’s the jam. I need honey.”

“They look the same! Which one is it?”

“Oh my god-”

Tony burst out laughing. “Do you guys need help?”

“Nope, we are perfectly fine.” Peter responded, grabbing the honey and handing it to Steve. “In fact, I am the best partner Steve has ever had. Right Steve?”

The other man just stirred a bowl of pancake batter and shook his head.

“Liar.”

Tony laughed again, and kept laughing for the rest of the time Peter and Steve cooked. Finally, when they finished up their meal, he joined them in helping to set up the table.

“So, how’d the cooking go?” Tony asked.

“I think you heard for yourself.” Steve replied.

Peter sighed. “Steve is just really good. I’m _terrible_. I wish I was as good as him.”

Steve placed a glass on the table, looking to Peter. “Do you want me to teach you how to cook? I used to be really bad myself until somebody taught me.”

“You’d teach me?”

“Of course! I’d love to teach you-”

Peter ran over and hugged Steve. “I’ve always wanted to cook. For Michelle, my girlfriend. She loves food.”

Tony grinned to himself. He kept the image of Peter hugging Steve in his mind, placing the last fork on the table.

After putting all of the food on the table to eat, they dug in. Steve and Peter had made the pancakes and fresh orange juice, and Tony was impressed. The pancakes tasted buttery and warm, the orange juice was perfectly sweet yet tart, and it was _much_ better than the last breakfast they cooked together.

“This is really good Petey. I’m proud of you.” He said.

Peter looked up and grinned. “Thanks Dad.”

A few more minutes passed in silence. Tony knew he had to broach the real topic he wanted to discuss, but he didn’t know how. Luckily, Steve noticed his uncomfortable stare and turned to Peter.

“Um, Pete, we have something to tell you.”

Peter smirked into his orange juice. “Okay.”

“Well, your dad and I really like each other. A lot. We realized we both have feelings for each other, and we started dating-“

Peter stood up out of his chair. “Yes! I _knew_ it! Oh my god Dad, Steve talked to me about his crush on you everyday. I wanted to tell you so bad!”

Tony tilted his head. “He… did?”

But it made sense. The private conversations Peter had with Steve, the reason they had each other’s number. It all fit together.

Steve turned red. “It’s true. I had it pretty bad for you.”

Walking over to Steve and kissing him on the cheek, Tony sighed. “You’re adorable.”

Steve just blushed more, grinning up at him.

Tony reluctantly looked away from his boyfriend to glare at Peter. “You, young man, need to apologize.”

“Why? What did I do?”

“You embarrassed Steve!”

Steve shook his head. “I’m fine. You’d have found out sooner or later.”

“Yeah, Steve would text me all the time. He’d tell me actual _paragraphs_ about you, and he’d talk about how much he wanted to kiss you-”

“Okay! That’s enough of that!” Steve laughed nervously.

Peter grinned, taking his breakfast plate and putting it next to the sink. “I’ve got homework, so I’ve gotta go.”

As soon as he left, Tony captured his lips with Steve. 

“What was that for?” Steve asked once they drew apart.

“You… god. I can’t believe you liked me all that time. You stubborn asshole-”

Steve just laughed. “I know. I’m the worst.”

“Agreed.”

They kissed, and Tony felt himself smile wider than he had in years.


	7. Rooftop Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony have been dating for two months. Tony attempts to plan a romantic date. Peter helps, and learns his father has never said “I love you” to his boyfriend.

“Whatever you do, don’t talk about it with Steve. I don’t really want it to turn into a thing.”

“But Dad-” Peter sighed, his voice becoming panicky. “You’re planning a romantic date for him, and I’m _gone_!”

“And?”

“How are you going to do it right if I’m not there?! I’m going to be with Mom, and you’ll be having your first date with Steve since two weeks ago. Last time you tried to plan a romantic date after two weeks-”

“Yeah, we’re not gonna talk about that.”

Tony took a seat on his living room couch, his mind cluttered. Secretly, he knew Peter was right. He was terrible at coming up with dates. 

“Just let me help you Dad. Please? Before I go to Mom’s house for the week?”

Tony sighed. “Fine.” 

Peter clasped his hands together excitedly and sat next to him. “I know this perfect place by a tree in the park. It’s near water and it’s super romantic. Please let me show it to you-”

“No, I’m not doing anything at a park. Remember the ant incident?”

“No, but I remember the kite date you had at the park. That was a disaster…”

They moved through options, none of them seeming to work. Romantic dinner had already been done by Steve himself, a date to a museum or zoo would be boring, and anything having to do with parks brought up bad memories for Tony. Eventually, they exhausted all of their options and gave up.

“Oh well. I guess I could always just do something here.” Tony sighed.

Peter snapped his fingers and gasped. “That’s it!”

“What? What’s it?”

“Something here! You should have your date on the rooftop!”

Tony tilted his head. The rooftop of their apartment wasn’t particularly special. It didn’t have chairs or tables like some of the other rooftops in the vicinity. All it had was a garden with various types of trees and flowers that the landlord planted. 

“Why the rooftop?” He asked.

“Remember the old dates you used to have with Mom? Where you guys would sit down and just… talk?” Peter asked, jumping off the couch to stand in front of Tony.

“Yeah?”

“Well, what if you had the date at our complex and took him to the roof? You could sit there with him, talking… It would be super romantic.”

Tony crossed his arms. “What’s so romantic about it?”

Peter sighed. “Here, follow me. I’m taking you to the roof. I think the view will explain everything.”

“Ugh, Fine. Hang on though, I need to get my shoes on.”

________________

“Fix your eyes on _this_ view.”

With an enthusiastic push, Peter opened the door of the rooftop. A spark of bright sunlight hit their eyes, making the both of them squint and stare towards the city in front of them.

“Wow…”

An excited Peter jumped in front of Tony, obstructing the skyline temporarily. “What do you think Dad?”

“It’s amazing…”

He was locked in front of the view like his life depended on it. The cool air swirled around him, and he pulled his arm around Peter. 

“Are you sure Steve hasn’t seen this before? What if it’s not… special enough?”

Peter bit his lip in thought. “That’s definitely an issue… But we could always make the roof _more_ special. Put some lanterns up in here, take a blanket up for you guys to sit on.”

“It sounds perfect.” Tony said, staring at Peter. “You know, most sons wouldn’t help out their dad like this.”

Peter grinned. “Well, I’m not like most sons.”

___________________________

One hour later, Tony knocked on Steve’s door. After ten seconds, Steve opened it, smiling when he saw who it was.

“Hey Tony-”

“Are you available? I mean, I was wondering- if we could go on a date? Two days from now?” Tony asked, nervously scratching the back of his neck. “I was just wondering- I mean- I’m trying to plan something for you.”

Steve grinned at him. “You’re planning a date for me?”

“Kind of. A little bit. Yeah.” 

Steve laughed, walking over to Tony and pressing a kiss to his hair. “I’d love to.”

It was set. Now all Tony had to do was get the supplies.  
___________________

“Okay, we’re buying a picnic blanket, a few battery operated lanterns- do we need flowers?”

Peter nodded. “Definitely.”

Tony looked down the large list of things he needed to buy, writing _flowers_ at the bottom.

“Okay, this is slightly more stuff than I expected.”

Peter gave one of his reassuring smiles and grabbed the list. “I think this is the perfect amount.”

“Alright then. What’s the game plan?”

Peter grinned. “First, we’ll stop by the craft store. Then we’ll go to a flower shop. After we do both of those, we can see what we still need…”

Tony grinned. “Sounds good.”

The first few items were pretty easy to grab, and pretty low-cost. A hell of a lot of blankets, a small straw basket for food, and some small pillows (“for decoration!” Peter had insisted). But Tony’s purchases started to become more expensive and hard to find. Five lanterns for below twenty bucks? Apparently, it was impossible. Eventually, they gave up and settled with discount white Christmas lights instead of the lanterns.

“There’s a plug up there, right?” Tony asked Peter, holding the lights in his hand.

“Think so. If not, I’ve got a battery thing for you.”

Tony sighed. “This better work…”  
————————————

Peter bit into his cupcake enthusiastically. “Damn. This is good. You said your friend Bucky made this?”

Tony leaned back in his chair. “Well, not really my friend. More like Steve’s. But I’m cool with him.”

“This is amazing. Like, how did you get this?”

Tony smiled. “Steve stopped by this morning. Said he felt bad for being so busy and gave it to me.”

“Well, it’s great. Go tell that Bucky guy that this is the best cupcake I’ve ever had.”

“I will.”

A silence fell between them. Tony played with his thumbs, trying not to think about tomorrow. 

“You look nervous.” Peter said, finishing his cupcake. Crumbs dusted the corners of his mouth, and pink frosting dotted his nose.

“My… my date is tomorrow.” Tony sighed, reaching over to sweep the crumbs off Peter’s face.

His son grinned. “I know. Are you sure you guys won’t be cold up there?”

“Yeah. We bought ten blankets for a reason.” He chuckled.

“Just be careful Dad.” Peter said, his expression concerned. “I know it’s almost March, but it’s still cold.”

Tony’s heart stopped. “Almost March?”

It felt like just yesterday when he had nervously admitted his feelings to Steve. How had time slipped away so fast?

“Yeah, you guys have been dating for two months. Not that I’ve been counting, of course.”

Tony’s eyes widened. “We’ve been dating for two months, and I’ve never told him I loved him?!”

Peter’s jaw dropped. “ _What?!_ ”

“You heard me. I’ve never said I loved him!”

“How in the world-”

Tony shook his head. “I guess it just slipped my mind…”

“How could it have slipped your mind?!”

Peter paced the kitchen floor, his brown hair suddenly disheveled. His hazel eyes were narrowed in confusion, analyzing the situation.

“Um, Peter?”

His son shushed him. “I’m thinking. How many dates have you guys gone on?”

“Um, six?”

“Hm, so not many.” Peter nodded.

“Well, Steve has to work a lot and we can’t always go on dates, he’s been so busy-”

“Sh! I’m thinking.”

Peter paced the floor, once again in deep thought. That was, until he spinned around and grabbed Tony’s shoulders. 

“Tell him. Tomorrow. Make it meaningful. Please don’t mess it up.”

Tony laughed. “You know I’m going to...”

“No, I mean it. I’m sorry, but if you want to be with him for the long haul, you have to tell him that you love him. Trust me.”

“Okay Petey. I will.”

___________________________

A knock came at the door.

Peter had left an hour ago, Pepper picking him up and taking him for the next week. Tony had hugged his son, telling him to stay safe. Peter had just laughed and nodded, asking Tony to not stress about his date.

But there he was, stressing about his date as another knock came at his front door. He finally opened it, his stomach twisting. 

Steve greeted him with his same blue eyes and his usual perfect smile. “Hey.” 

“Hey!” Tony laughed. Why was he laughing? It felt like nervous laughter. It was definitely nervous laughter, because Steve was looking at him strangely and he felt dizzy.

“Are you okay? Don’t tell me you’re sick again. It’s bad enough you got sick that one time I was here. Remember how I met your Ex-wife the next morning?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “We’re not having a repeat of that disaster.”

“Good, because I’m really excited about this date. I actually have something I need to tell you.” Steve said, smiling.

“Oh? Is it good news or bad news?” Tony asked, trying to act relaxed. It couldn’t be bad news, right? They were still pretty early in their relationship. 

“It’s… good. I think.”

Tony breathed out a sigh of relief. At least it was good news. “That’s great.”

There was a silence, and Steve looked behind Tony’s shoulder into his apartment. Tony thought nothing of it, until he saw Steve narrow his eyes in confusion. That’s when Tony remembered the giant pile of blankets and pillows in his living room. He completely forgot to hide it before Steve came.

“That’s for the date.” Tony explained anxiously. “I’m not a blanket hoarder, I swear.”

“I was worried there for a second.” Steve said, an amused grin on his face.

“Yup. Not a blanket hoarder. But I’m glad we got that cleared up.”

“Me too.”

Tony sighed. “Can I ask you something Steve?” He asked, watching Steve nod. “You’ve been to the roof of this building, right?”

“Can’t say I have.” Steve replied.

Tony felt himself relax slightly. At least Steve had never been to the roof before. That made his date a little more unique, and hopefully, a lot more romantic. “Great.”

Steve smirked and tilted his head. “Why?”

“Our date is actually on the roof. That’s why I bought all those blankets- so we have something to sit on up there. But before we do that-”

Tony ran to the nearby kitchen, grabbing the bouquet of roses he had picked out with Peter. Holding the roses in his arm, he walked back to find a pleasantly surprised Steve.

“You bought those for me?”

“Yeah.” Tony smiled, handing the bouquet to him. “I’ll explain why I got them for you later.”

“Oh? Is it a surprise?” Steve asked, cradling the large bouquet in his arm.

“Maybe.” Tony replied.

They both looked at each other, grinning widely. Sure, it was the first date they’d had in weeks, but it felt like they were never apart. 

“Are you ready to go to the roof Steve?” 

“Ready.”

Tony nodded, turning toward the mess of blankets and pillows behind him. “Can you help me carry all of this shit up there?”

Steve chuckled. “Of course.”

_____________________

It turns out, climbing ten flights of stairs with way too many blankets in your arms and a basket of heavy food in your hand was not easy. Once they finally made it to the door of the roof, Tony paused to catch his breath. Steve quietly waited for him, an expression plastered on his face that Tony couldn’t quite place. His blue eyes were soft, staring him up and down as he smirked. Or, was that a smirk? It was something more loving, something that made Tony’s stomach flutter with nerves.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Tony asked softly.

“Nothing. You’re just adorable.” Steve said, looking at him with that same damn expression.

“How so?”

“You did all of this for me. You climbed ten flights of stairs with all those blankets, not even letting me help you out. Even when you dropped a blanket, you wouldn’t let me help you. You just wanted me to be comfortable, even if it meant you were uncomfortable. I… I appreciate it.”

Tony looked to the ground, his heart racing. “It’s not a big deal Steve.”

“No, it is. You care about me a lot Tony.”

Tony looked up at him and felt his hands shake. He could say it now. It was the perfect time. Just blurt it out. It wasn’t hard. 

I love you.

They were just words!

“I… I um…”

“Yes Tony?

“I need to show you this view.”

Tony quickly shoved the door open, the cool air enveloping him immediately. The Christmas lights he set up with Peter that morning shone brightly, and a little area was cleared out under it. The skyline in front of the cleared area was also shining bright, skyscrapers piercing the sky with tall lights.

But the view in front of Tony was tainted by the missed opportunity he just took. He shook his head. He just had to stick with the original plan. No more distractions. He just had to tell Steve. 

“I… Wow. This is amazing.” Steve said, stepping next to him. 

“You like it?”

“I _love_ it. Tony, this is… incredible. You said Peter helped you with this?”

“A little bit.” He replied, pausing before shaking his head. “Actually, a lot. He helped me buy everything, set everything up, prepare the food. He was the mastermind behind all of this.”

“That kid. I swear, he’s going somewhere with that planning ability of his.”

“And his relationship advice.” Tony chuckled.

“Yes. Definitely that.”

They dragged the blankets under the Christmas lights, setting them down gently on the stone floor. Tony set a few pillows down, sitting down on one of them before taking out the food basket.

“I packed some food. You know, getting that whole picnic vibe? That’s what Peter told me to do anyway.”

He took out a bottle of mildly expensive champagne, glasses, and small crackers with cheese. It was a pretty basic picnic, but Tony knew he couldn’t cook anything. Not for Steve, at least. His boyfriend could make garbage taste like a gourmet meal. There was no way he was competing with that.

“Are you okay with champagne?” Tony asked. Steve nodded, and he poured some champagne in his glass.

“You really thought of everything. The champagne, the blankets. This stunning view…” Steve sighed and took a sip of his drink. “This is the best date we’ve ever been on. It has to be.”

“Thank you. Though you really shouldn’t be complimenting me.”

“I know, I know. Peter did everything. But I’m sure you did some stuff too, right?”

Tony felt butterflies erupt in his stomach. This was it. He was going to tell Steve. 

“You still have your bouquet, right?”

Steve nodded and pointed to the bundle of roses next to him. “Why?”

“There was a reason I got you six lavender roses and six red ones.” Tony explained, running a hand through his hair nervously. “You see, when I went to the flower shop, I asked the employee for flowers that showed a certain… feeling. She showed me the roses and explained to me what they stood for.”

Tony paused, silently taking a single red rose from the bouquet. Staring at it intently, he toyed with the edge of a petal. “The red ones are obvious. They stand for romantic love. It’s the truest symbol of love there is. It… it explains my feelings for you perfectly.”

Tony gave Steve the red rose, trying not to look him in the eye. If Steve looked at all uncomfortable, Tony would be broken. He was sure of it.

Taking out a bright, lavender colored rose, he took a deep breath. “This means love at first sight. Because when I saw you, I knew. I don’t know how, but I could tell you were important to me right away.”

Giving Steve the lavender rose, Tony finally looked up at him. 

“I love you Steve. More than you’ll ever know. I’m sure of that now.”

Steve’s blue eyes were laced with happy tears. “That’s exactly what I wanted to say to you too.  
That was what I was going to tell you today. That was the good news.”

“Of course you wanted to say it today. I swear, we’re the weirdest couple in New York- a coincidence like that could only happen to us.” Tony said, laughing as he fell into Steve’s arms.

“I love you. So much.” Steve whispered, kissing the top of Tony’s head.

A cold wind swirled around them. Tony shivered and leaned closer to Steve.

“I’ve got you. I love you Tony. I’ve got you.”

Tony was good at romantic dates, he decided. Even if he needed some help from Peter.


	8. Peter’s Strange Mood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter falls into a strange depression, and no one can figure out why. Cue an impromptu trip to Bucky’s Bakery, free pastries, and Steve coming to their apartment for the bajillionth time. The problem is, this doesn’t cheer him up. 
> 
> Cue an extremely concerned Tony Stark.

There was a strange feeling to Tony’s apartment ever since Peter came back from Pepper’s home. His son was quiet, only speaking when spoken to. He was always locked in his room, on his phone or his computer. He only came out for dinner and breakfast, and didn’t go anywhere outside of the apartment.

It was so unlike Peter that Tony considered calling a doctor. He attempted to talk to Peter himself, but the teenager would simply ignore him or give a quick, nonsensical response to his questioning.  
Eventually, Tony had to come up with a plan to get his son to talk. 

“Steve’s coming over later today! Make your room nice and neat!” Tony said, knocking on the door of Peter’s room.

Tony heard a tenuous “Fine” from inside his room and smiled. Humming to himself, he sent a text to Steve.

T: It’s on

S: Great, I’ll be there at five

______________________

At exactly five o’clock, a loud knock sounded through Tony’s apartment. A mix of excitement and nervousness coursed through him, and he jogged to the front door. Another knock came at the door before he opened it, finding Steve’s grinning face. 

“Hey Tony.” Steve said, kissing him softly on the cheek.

“Hey. Thanks for coming over. It’s been…”

Steve nodded and walked into his apartment. “I know. Hopefully he’ll join us.”

“Hopefully.” Tony said, closing the door behind Steve. 

To be honest, he wasn’t sure Peter would come out of his room. The teenager didn’t seem very enthusiastic about Steve coming over, which was surprising. Usually, Peter would drop anything to hang out with him. 

“Are we doing anything, or are we staying here?” Steve asked, following Tony into the living room.

“Well, I was going to ask Peter, but that’s not really an option.” Tony sighed.

Steve nodded and they spread out onto a couch. Tony had his head rested on Steve’s chest, and Steve had his arms tightly wrapped around the smaller man. It was comfortable, and they stayed there and talked until a door opened quietly behind them.

“Dad?”

Tony immediately shot up from the couch. Peter was standing in the doorway of his room, a large blanket wrapped around himself and his eyes bloodshot. He almost looked like he had been crying, which Tony was too scared to ask about. 

“Peter. Are you okay?”

Peter just shook his head, trudging over to Tony with his arms outstretched. Tony hugged the teenager, his heart breaking. 

“Steve is here. He came to see you.” Tony whispered, letting go of his son.

Peter gave something like a smile, falling into Steve’s outstretched arms. “Hi Steve.”

“Hey Pete. What’s up?”

Peter shrugged and looked to the ground. “I’ll tell you guys later. Right now I just want a cupcake. Like the one I got last week.”

Tony grinned and turned to Steve. “I gave him that cupcake you gave to me. He really liked it.”

“Oh! I’m glad.” Steve paused, looking down at Peter. “You liked the cupcake a lot?”

Peter nodded. “It was really good. That Bucky has talent.”

Steve laughed. “I agree. We can probably head over there today. Would you like that?”

“Yes please. Please?” The teenager asked, looking optimistically at his Dad.

“Sure. We can take my car.”

______________________

“Okay, you’re getting a cupcake and then you’re telling us what’s going on with you.” Tony sighed, looking into Peter’s eyes carefully. “I’m worried about you. You’ve been weird.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “I’m fine. I’ll tell you guys later at home. I don’t want to talk about it here.”

“Fine. But you’re telling us what’s going on with you.”

Peter nodded and walked up to the employee at the register, ordering his cupcake. Tony watched him, shaking his head. 

Steve noticed Tony’s disappointed expression. Running his hand through messy brown hair, Steve sighed. “He’ll be fine.”

“I know. He worries me though.”

“Just try to be normal around him.” Steve said, kissing the top of Tony’s head. “He’ll tell you at your apartment. I promise.”

“Okay.”

They stood there, Steve with his arms around Tony. They didn’t even notice when a familiar face tapped Steve on the shoulder.

“Sorry, none of… _this_ -” Sam pointed his finger at the two and laughed. “Is allowed at our establishment.”

“Sam! God you scared me.” Steve chuckled, unwrapping his arms from Tony.

“Sorry. I just noticed two guys in the corner of the bakery who were hugging and assumed it was you two.”

Steve’s cheeks dusted red as Tony burst out laughing. Behind them, a brown-haired teenager tried to join, a cupcake in his hand. Tony noticed Peter first and smiled, urging him over.

“This is my son, Peter. I’ve told you about him before.”

Sam looked at him and grinned. “Hey. Your dad never shuts up about you.”

Peter laughed. “I know.”

“Sorry.” Tony grinned sheepishly.

Across the bakery, a red-haired woman with a black apron slung across her shoulder made her way through the crowd. Noticing Natasha immediately, Steve gestured her over. 

She jogged toward them, ignoring everyone but Sam. “What the hell?! You just leave in the middle of the rush hour?!”

“Tony’s son is here!” Sam said, pointing to Peter.

Peter stared nervously at Natasha. “Hi.”

“Oh, Hey! Nice to meet you!” She smiled. Immediately turning back to Sam, she crossed her arms. “Alright. Let’s get back to work.”

“Fine.”

Natasha and Sam waved goodbye, running back into their kitchen. Peter watched them, turning to Tony after they left. “Are those your friends?”

“Kind of. They’re more Steve’s, but I’ve talked to them a couple of times.”

Steve scoffed. “They’re just as much your friends as mine. They love you Tony.”

“They like me.” Tony said, looking to Peter. “They think I’m okay.”

“Okay.” Peter said, taking a bite of his cupcake. 

“Do you want to head back now?” Tony asked him.

Peter didn’t respond, but Steve shook his head and turned to Tony. “Not yet! We need to introduce him to Bucky!”

“Oh, that’s right. Think you can meet one more person Peter?”

Peter nodded. “That’s fine.”

“Great.”

Steve left to find Bucky, and Tony and Peter stayed behind. Tony bit his lip, trying to find something to say while Peter ate his cupcake. But, what could he talk about? He couldn’t discuss his son’s time at Pepper’s apartment yet. He couldn’t talk about school, Peter hated when he asked about his school and his grades. And if Tony dared talk about Michelle or his friends, Peter would probably strangle him.

A few awkward minutes later, Bucky and Steve came out of the kitchen. Peter instantly put on a smile, turning toward them. Tony watched the way the smile didn’t quite reach his son’s hazel eyes, no one else noticing how forced it was. 

“Bucky, this is Peter. Tony’s son.” Steve said once they made it over.

Bucky grinned and stuck his hand out. “How are you?”

Peter shrugged. “I’m fine. This cupcake is amazing though.”

“Thank you!” Bucky said, his face sincere. “I’m glad you like it. You know, our place has been testing out some new recipes. If you want to try them out, I could give you some.”

Peter nodded. “Sure.”

“Alright, I’ll go and give you some stuff for the road.” 

Bucky left to throw the pastries together, and Peter took away his forced smile. Turning to his Dad, he sighed. “Can we go home?”

“We’ll be home soon. But remember the deal?”

“I’ll tell you what happened at Mom’s apartment.” Peter promised. His expression looked to be sincere, so Tony dropped the subject. 

Bucky came back a few minutes later, a large paper bag in his arms. “Sorry. I didn’t know what to pick, so I just took everything.”

“That’s great. Thank you so much Bucky.” Tony said, taking the bag from him.

“No problem. You guys can stop here anytime you want. Especially you Peter. We need to gossip about Steve together.”

Peter smirked. “I’ve got a lot of dirt on him. He’s not very good at keeping secrets.”

“Did everyone forget I’m still here?” Steve asked, making Bucky and Peter burst out laughing. And as far as Tony could tell, it was genuine laughter from his son.

That was all he needed to hear. Tony let out a silent sigh of relief. 

______________________

Tony unlocked the door to his apartment. Steve carried the bag of pastries inside behind him, with Peter trailing in last. They all eventually ended up in the living room, the pastry bag in the middle of the coffee table.

“Just in case.” Tony said, sitting at a couch. “Just in case anyone gets hungry.”

Peter shook his head. “It won’t be long Dad. It’s just a quick story.”

“Alright, but I’m still keeping the pastries if anyone wants one.”

Steve sat next to Tony, securely wrapping his arm around the smaller man. Peter sat across from them, his feet propped on the coffee table lazily. There was a silence, no one wanting to speak first. 

Tony didn’t want to say anything. He just wanted to know what changed his son’s behavior so drastically. Staring into Peter’s hazel eyes, he waited. 

“I’m sorry, I just-” Peter covered his eyes with his hands.

“Are you… okay?” Tony asked gently.

Peter shook his head. “I said something to Mom. And I- I can’t take it back. She’ll never forgive me. I know it.”

His eyes started to leak. Tony saw a tear run down his face, traveling down his arm and dropping onto the ground. 

Oh god. Peter never cried. That’s when Tony stood up from the couch, his arms wrapping around his son.

“It’s okay. But I just want to know, what did you say to her?”

“I can’t-” Peter paused, looking up at Steve through Tony’s arms. “I can’t tell you in front of Steve.”

Well, Tony didn’t expect that.

Steve immediately stood, backing out of the room. “I’ll just head back to my apartment.”

“I’ll let you know when you can come over again.” Tony said, looking up at him. “I’ll just text you.”

“Okay, great.”

Steve left, signaled by the heavy front door closing shut. Tony unwrapped his arms from Peter, looking into his watering eyes. “Can you tell me now?”

Peter nodded slowly, making room for Tony to sit next to him. “I think I can tell you.”

“Okay.”

Peter took a deep breath. “Mom and I get into fights a lot. Understandable, right? She’s my mom. We don’t always get along. But ever since you left, we’ve had them more often. Like, way more.”

Tony’s eyes widened. Nobody told him. He never even noticed.

“So, that culminated recently. She yelled at me, I yelled at her. It wasn’t too bad. Until I said… what I did.”

Tony tilted his head. “What was that?”

That’s when Peter sighed, his shoulders shaking. “I… I… Told her I hated her. Nothing new, right? But I told her she was the worst. I said she didn’t care about me, and that you always loved me more than her. And- and I said Steve was a better parent than she was. Because- because-”

Now tears were streaming down Peter’s face. His breathing was uneven and his eyes were trained at the ground. “I said that Steve was a better parent than her because he actually loved me.”

There was silence. Tony was speechless. He always thought Peter and Pepper were close. He thought they were perfect. What happened?

Steve. Steve happened. Tony realized this and shook his head. Before, everything was normal. But as soon as Steve came, nothing was normal. Most of that was good, but some was…

Bad. Tony hugged Peter, feeling tears stain his shirt. He didn’t mind. He just wanted his son to feel better. That’s all he ever wanted. He didn’t care about anything else.

“I’m sorry. She knows you don’t mean it.”

Peter shook his head against Tony’s shoulder. “She didn’t talk to me for the rest of the week. She di- didn’t even let me apol- apologize.”

Tony squeezed him tighter. “Oh Petey… why didn’t you come to me? I would’ve helped.”

“I didn’t want you to be mad at me. Mom’s already m- mad. I didn’t want you to hate m- me too.”

“Your Mom doesn’t hate you.” Tony said, running his hand through Peter’s hair. “She’s just… confused. I think.” 

They stayed there, Peter in Tony’s arms as he let out the last of his tears. A few minutes later, Peter sniffled and moved out of Tony’s embrace. “I feel so stupid. I don’t even know why I’m crying. I just feel so bad. I… I can’t believe I said that to her.”

Peter looked down at the ground. But instead of looking sad, he looked disappointed in himself. Tony sighed, staring at his son in sympathy. 

“Is there anything that would make you feel better?” Tony asked. “We have those pastries.”

Peter laughed, wiping at the remaining tears left under his cheeks. “I’ll have one.”

“Okay.” 

Tony grabbed the bag, looking into the contents as his eyes widened. “Holy shit. Bucky really put a lot of stuff in here.”

Peter smiled. “Is there anything with chocolate?”

Tony shuffled around the bag, pulling out a small chocolate croissant. “This looks good.”

Peter nodded. “Thanks.”

He sat in silence, biting into his croissant. Tony watched him, wondering how to broach the subject of Pepper. 

“So, with Mom…”

Peter looked up. “Yeah?”

“I think you should call her. Over my phone. Maybe sometime today, after Steve leaves and we eat all of the pastries.”

Peter nodded. “I agree. I just hope she accepts the apology.”

“She will. Your mom loves you Peter. We both love you.”

Peter looked away, but smiled the smallest amount. “Alright.”  
______________________

Tony texted Steve to come over, and come over he did. He brought ten different movies with him, all of them terrible and cheesy but comforting. Peter picked one to watch, and they sat down and in front of the TV and watched it.

Towards the end of the movie, all of their popcorn was gone and the pastry bag was empty. Steve was fast asleep on the couch, and Tony didn’t have the heart to move him. So, he left him to sleep with a blanket gently laid over him. 

Peter took Tony’s phone, a nervous expression on his face. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

“You can. She’ll forgive you. You got it.”

“...Okay. Thank you.”

Peter went into his room to talk to Pepper, and Tony was left by himself. He threw all of the leftover food into a container, and threw everything else in the trash. He then turned out the light in the living room, getting ready for bed in his bedroom.

A couple minutes later, Peter came into Tony’s room with a grin taking up his entire face. “You were right.”

“Aren’t I always?” Tony laughed.

Peter rolled his eyes and handed his phone back. “Okay. I was wrong. She forgave me. But… I feel so stupid now. I can’t believe I got so emotional over that fight.”

Tony tilted his head. “You know it’s okay to get emotional sometimes, right Petey? You can cry in front of me. Lord knows I’ve cried a ton in front of you this past month.”

“That’s just because you thought Steve hated you again. Ugh, you two are so dramatic.” Peter said, crossing his arms. “Plus, that’s different. I shouldn’t have gotten upset about my fight with Mom because it wasn’t even important.”

“It was! Peter-” Tony quickly hugged his son. “You need to cry more. Like me.”

Peter laughed. “Okay. I’ll cry everyday.”

“No, I mean-” Tony sighed. “You just need to let out your emotions a little bit more. You know?”

“I’ll work on it.”

Tony nodded. “Good.”

_____________________

Tony woke up late in the middle of the night, his bedroom door creaking open and letting light in from the hallway. His heart pounded, and he was immediately awake. “Hello? Who is that?”

A figure stood in the doorway. They were tall, muscular, and- “Oh thank god. Steve, you almost gave me a heart attack.”

Steve mumbled something Tony couldn’t hear, crawling into the bed. Tony smiled, spreading his arms open for him.

“You’re warm.” Steve muttered, pressing his face into Tony’s chest.

“You’re adorable.” Tony whispered.

A press of lips. A sigh of contentment. A few more seconds, and they were fast asleep.

_____________________

They woke up in each other’s arms. Tony woke up first, and watched Steve sleep peacefully, his blond hair messy and his mouth open.

When Steve woke up, he looked confused. But he stared at Tony’s brown eyes, and a look of recognition passed through him. “I came here last night?”

“Yeah. You don’t remember?”

“Kind of.” Steve smiled. “Did I say something stupid?”

“No. You were cute.”

Steve laughed. “I’ll take it.”

After a few minutes of silence, Steve sighed. “Is Peter okay? I was worried about him.”

Tony’s heart swelled. “He’s okay. I’m… I’m glad you were thinking about him.”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

God, Tony loved that man. Pressing his lips on Steve’s cheek, he laughed. “I got lucky with you. Not everyone would care, you know?”

“Of course I care! It’s Peter.”

Tony grinned. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Steve said. “I’m glad he’s okay.”

“Me too.”

Steve went home shortly after their conversation, but not before saying goodbye to a sleepy Peter. After that, Peter went back to sleep, and so did Tony. They were both tired, but they were happy. Everything was back to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about not meeting my deadlines. I’m trying!!! I swear!! ;(


	9. Reading Glasses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spring arrives. Steve talks about quitting his job. Tony mentions meeting Rhodey. Jarvis is almost completed.
> 
> Steve learns he has a thing for Tony in glasses.
> 
> Tony’s just glad April is still a month away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of just setting up for future chapters so it isn’t really thatttt interesting,,,, but I think the next couple of chapters will be good :)

Tony touched the branch of a flowering tree, looking to Steve and smiling. “It’s finally spring.”

Steve hummed in agreement, his arm around Tony. “My favorite time of the year. I love the weather.”

“Me too.” Tony said, soaking in the slight breeze and warm sun around them.

They had stumbled upon a small park after a movie they had watched together, and they  
decided to stretch their legs by taking a quick walk. Tony was glad, the movie had been entertaining but long. Plus, the weather was actually enjoyable for the first time in months. He could finally stretch out his legs without the fear of impending rain.

But something was on his mind. He glanced at his boyfriend, trying to find his words. “Steve?”

Steve smiled. “Yes, Tony?”

“I need to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

Clearing his throat, he glanced up at the tall blond. Really, it wasn’t that big of an announcement. Just something he had been thinking about ever since he met Steve. Not that important.

“I was thinking… Well, I’ve always wanted you to meet Rhodey.”

Steve grinned. “Isn’t that your friend from college?”

“Yep. You’ve never met him before because he lives in LA. But he always comes around here in late April, which is a month from now. I was wondering if you’d…?”

“Want to meet him?” Steve nodded immediately. “Of course. You have to deal with all of my friends. It’s only fair I get to meet yours.”

Tony laughed and leaned into Steve as they walked. “Your friends are nice. Besides, I think you’d really like Rhodey. He was my anchor in college. He always kept me well-behaved.”

Steve chuckled and raised an eyebrow. “You were a rebellious teen?”

Tony shrugged. “You’d be surprised. I used to be a huge partier. Parenthood made me calm down though.”

“So I’ll never see a rebellious Tony Stark?” 

Tony tilted his head, considering the question. “Only if I’m drunk. But don't bet on it. I haven’t gotten drunk since Peter was born.”

Steve laughed. “Alright then.”

They continued walking down the path, feet hitting the ground at a slow pace. Tony watched Steve observe the park, his blue eyes flashing from tree to tree.

“Do you ever need a break from something, but you know you have to do it?” Steve asked, looking back at Tony again.

“Um, sure. That happens to me sometimes.”

“Yeah. That’s how I feel about work right now.”

Tony nodded. “Job hasn’t gotten any better?”

Steve complained about his workplace often. Tony had become accustomed to it, but Steve looked especially annoyed at that moment.

“I just hope I can get out of there soon.”  
_________________________

“Dad?”

Tony stopped typing on his computer. He didn’t mind, his eyes were becoming blurry and strained anyway. Pretty soon he’d have to take his reading glasses out, and he definitely didn’t want that. He hated wearing his glasses.

Glancing up at Peter, he closed his laptop. “Yes?”

Peter sat down at a kitchen chair across from him, a nervous smile on his face. “I have a question about my birthday.”

Tony looked at him in slight surprise. Peter usually hated talking about his birthday. 

“What’s up? You know it’s four weeks away, right?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Yes, I know. It’s not about presents or anything like that, you know I don’t care about that stuff. It’s about the dinner thing.”

Tony nodded. He immediately knew what his son was referring to. 

Every year, he would plan a day for Peter’s birthday. Pepper would take off work and Peter would leave school early so they could celebrate. They’d go out to their favorite places in the city, shopping while they talked to each other and walked around. Eventually they’d end their day with the restaurant of Peter’s choice.

It was one of Tony’s favorite traditions. Just a look at his living room wall could tell you how much he cherished it- practically all of the pictures hung up were from Peter’s birthdays. He loved it, and so did his son. 

But Peter was staring at him like something about it was very wrong.

He sighed. “You know, we’re still doing that this year, right? Just because your mom and I are divorced-”

“No no, it’s not that. It’s…”

Something clicked in Tony’s mind. “Steve.”

Peter immediately nodded. “He’s… my friend. I feel like it would be wrong to not have him there for my birthday.”

Tony knew the problem would arise. Still, he had decided to ask his son whether he wanted Steve at his birthday at a later date. There was no point in bringing up an issue that was a month away.

But Peter had made up his mind already. Tony looked to him and sighed. “I’ll ask your mom. Maybe he could meet us at the restaurant so he doesn’t have to do the shopping stuff.”

Peter grinned. “That works. Thanks.”

“I’ll call her a little bit later today. Sound good?”

“Yup.” Peter stood, making his way out of the kitchen. “Thanks Dad.”

_____________________________

 

A few hours later, reading glasses perched on his nose, Tony finished one of the last parts of his Jarvis coding. Closing his eyes, he felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.

It would be done soon. Only a couple more weeks at most. 

He felt accomplished, but stuck. It was something he had wanted to complete for months, practically years. Now that it was almost over, he didn’t know what to do with himself. 

What would he do with the program once he completed it? He couldn’t sell it, not yet. He hadn’t even tested it yet, he technically didn’t even know if it worked.

Just as he started to become anxious about the project, he heard a ringing sound come from his pocket. Shutting off his computer, he glanced at his phone. 

Steve. He pressed the answer button and put it to his ear, smiling widely. “Hey.”

“Hey Tony.”

“What’s up?”

He heard a deep breath come from Steve’s end of the phone. “Um… Is it okay if I come over?”

“Uh, Yeah. Of course.

“Okay, thank you. I’m coming from work though, so I’ll be a few minutes.” Steve said, his voice strangely emotionless. Tony felt himself tense.

“Everything okay over there?”

“Yeah. Just have to let you know about something.”

Tony bit his lip. “Alright. Just let me know what’s wrong.”

“I will. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

The call ended. Tony gripped his phone tightly in his hand.

Something was wrong with Steve. He could hear it in the other man’s voice- it wasn’t the usual optimistic tone he had become accustomed to. It was something dim, something he didn’t recognize.

As he held his phone, Tony remembered his call to Pepper. Realizing how late in the day it was, he braced himself for another phone call and swiftly dialed her number.

After waiting a few seconds, she picked up. “Hello? Tony?”

“Hey.” Tony paused and shook his head. “Sorry to call you so randomly.” 

“It’s not a big deal. Is everything okay?” She asked, her voice concerned.

“Yeah, of course. Peter just wanted me to ask you something. About his birthday.”

She chuckled. “His birthday? Isn’t it at least a month from now?”

Tony laughed. “That’s exactly what I said. I think he wants to know about the dinner though. The thing we try to do every year.”

“What about it?” She asked, sounding confused. “We’re still doing it, right?”

“Yeah, we’re still doing it. But I think he wanted to… have Steve there.”

“Oh, that’s your boyfriend, right? I think I met him once.”

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t sound upset about Steve being there, she just seemed intrigued. “Yeah. You met him when you picked up Peter before Christmas.”

“You two weren’t dating yet, right?”

“Yeah.” Tony shook his head. “God, that was almost four months ago. It feels like it was only two weeks.”

“Wow. That’s insane.”

“I know.” Tony paused and watched Peter enter the kitchen. “Anyway, he wants Steve there.”

Peter looked up at him and waved. Tony waved back with his free hand.

“Sounds fine with me.”

“Steve will probably only be there for the dinner, so he won’t come to the other part. But I wanted to make sure it was fine with you, since you’re planning the whole thing this year.”

“Thanks. That means a lot, Tony.”

“No problem. I’m sure Peter will be happy to know you said yes.” 

Peter glanced up from the glass of water he was pouring to briefly grin at Tony. 

“Great.” Pepper said, her voice sincere. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Sounds good. Bye.”

“Bye-bye.”

He hung up, looking to Peter. “Do you want the good news or the bad news?”

Peter tilted his head in confusion. “There’s bad news?”

“Yeah. Unfortunately.”

“Uh, Okay. Give me that first.” Peter said, sipping the water he poured out for himself.

“Steve’s coming over right now.”

“Oh, well that’s not bad news.” Peter smiled. “Steve’s coming over.”

“Yeah, but he sounds upset. I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with Rhodey.”

“What? Why would it have anything to do with Rhodey?”

Tony ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. We were having our date at the movie theater yesterday and I mentioned meeting Rhodey. He seemed like he wanted to meet him, so we made plans.”

“Why would he be upset about that?” Peter asked.

“Well, maybe he doesn’t want to meet Rhodey.”

“Oh my god Dad.” Peter sighed, rolling his eyes. “Of course he wants to meet Rhodey. That’s your best friend. It has to be something else.”

“Okay, well… He mentioned being upset with his job at our date. He actually said he was coming from work when we talked on the phone just now.”

Peter snapped his fingers. “Bingo. He quit his job.”

“No way. He wouldn’t.” 

But it made sense. Steve had complained about his work a lot in the past days, and he had increasingly spent more time at Bucky’s Bakery. Tony had noticed it, but didn’t want to assume anything. 

Peter raised an eyebrow. “Come on. What else would it be?”

“We’ll just find out when he gets here.” 

“Fine.”

Setting his phone on the table and sitting down in a chair, Tony gave the slightest hint of a smile. “Do you want to hear the good news now?”

Peter’s eyes lit up the smallest amount. “Sure.”

“Pepper said yes. She’s completely fine with it.” Tony watched his son grin. “And if Steve says yes, he’ll celebrate your birthday with us.”

“Oh, perfect. We can ask him when he gets over here.”

_________________________

A familiar knock came at the door, which Peter answered immediately. Tony stayed at his seat, trying to work on Jarvis as much as he could. If he was being honest with himself, it was purely a way to distract himself. 

He couldn’t take bad news. Especially bad news from Steve.

Steve entered, his face weary but somewhat relaxed. His blond hair was messy, his blue eyes shifting from Tony to Peter and back to Tony. 

“When did you get glasses?”

Tony stared at the other man, confused until he remembered his reading glasses. He lightly touched the wide frames. “Oh, Sorry. These are my reading glasses. I usually don’t need them, but I was doing a lot of things on my computer today.”

Tony reached to take them off, but Steve’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “No, no. Keep them on. You look… really good.”

Peter grimaced. “I think this is my cue to leave.”

As he shuffled out of the kitchen, Tony smiled at Steve. “You like them?”

“You look amazing. You just made my day so much better.”

“Wow. Thank you.” Tony laughed. 

“No problem.”

Standing out of his chair and walking over to Steve, Tony sighed. “Okay. Now, what happened?”

Steve’s smiling expression immediately turned into one of exhaustion. “You know how much I hate my job, right?”

Tony nodded. “Yeah.”

“I couldn’t take it anymore. My boss, my coworkers, everything was too much. I just quit.”

“You did the right thing.” Tony said, wrapping his arms around Steve.

Tony wasn’t surprised, though he didn’t expect it to be so sudden. Sure, Peter had predicted Steve quitting his job, but he didn’t really believe it until Steve was there in front of him to say it. 

“Yeah. I… I don’t know. I’m starting to regret my decision.” Steve sighed.

“No, don’t. You made the right choice.” Tony pressed a kiss to Steve’s cheek. “Fuck them.”

Steve gave the slightest hint of a smile. “I love you.”

Tony felt the air leave his lungs as Steve kissed him. He grinned into it, his mind lost in the feeling of soft lips against his own.

But he broke apart a few seconds later. “Shit. Almost forgot.”

“What is it?” Steve asked, his fingers tracing through Tony’s hair.

Tony leaned into the touch. “Would you… want to be a part of a Stark tradition?”

Steve laughed. “What?”

“A Stark tradition! Every year we do something for Peter’s birthday. I was wondering if… you’d want to do part of it with us?”

The blond chuckled. “I don’t even know why you ask me about these things anymore. Of course I’ll be at Peter’s birthday.”

“Good. I’ll be sure to tell him. It’s also with Pepper by the way. Just letting you know.”

“Oh.” Steve tilted his head to the side. “I kind of get the feeling she doesn’t like me.”

“No! She loves you. Promise.”

“Okay…”

He grinned at the taller man. “Promise.”

Tony felt a small weight lift off shoulder. Steve was coming to Peter’s birthday. Pepper was fine with him there. Everything was working out.

But the birthday was a week after Rhodey’s arrival in New York. It was also around the time Tony would be done with Jarvis. He’d be busy.

And just like that, Tony felt the weight being added to his shoulders again.

“You okay?” Steve asked, looking into Tony’s eyes carefully. “You look…”

Tony forced a smile. “I’m fine. Just… I have a lot going on all of a sudden.”

April. April was going to be a weird month for him.


	10. Rhodey’s Party (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations for Rhodey’s arrival are in full force. Peter suggests hosting a party for him, and Tony readily agrees. 
> 
> Just when he starts feeling stressed out with all of his preparations for the party, he discovers Peter and Steve are keeping a secret from him. After he learns what it is, he discovers another major secret about Steve’s job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god. This chapter is SO long overdue. I have no idea why this took me so long, I think it was a combination of the holidays and me being a perfectionist. I COMPLETELY trashed my older version of this chapter because of how bad it was and I was forced to start all over again. Add my unrealistic goal of creating a new chapter every two weeks to the equation, and this chapter took longer than a MONTH to write???
> 
> On that note, I’m trying to write out multiple chapters in advance so nothing like this ever happens again. I’m also going to start writing on my laptop more, becasue my phone takes too long for typing.

“Dad, Steve’s here.”

Tony heard Peter’s voice faintly through his bedroom. Stepping into the hallway, he saw Steve standing at the front door. Unsurprisingly, he looked beyond excited.

“Well? Did you finish it?”

Tony sighed. “Yeah. It’s… pretty good. He has his own personality already.”

“That’s amazing.”

Peter smirked, looking over to Steve. “Jarvis loves me, by the way. He thinks I’m _hilarious_.”

Tony chuckled. It was somewhat true. Though Peter had only held a few conversations with the A.I., he could tell Jarvis liked him. 

“So. You did it, huh? Real Artificial Intelligence.” Steve was looking at Tony with a mixture of pride and disbelief. 

Tony felt his heart swell. “Yep. I actually did it.”

Steve walked over, wrapping Tony in a tight embrace as he covered him in kisses. With each one, he whispered the word genius. Tony laughed, pleasant shivers running through his body.

When Steve finally let up his kisses, Tony couldn’t help but think about how far he’d come. A year ago he wasn’t close to being finished. Even six months ago he was at a loss on how to complete his A.I. But when he met Steve, something pushed him forward. He found a reason to keep working. And now, it was completed. Finally, he was done.

“Well,” Steve said, making Tony focus his attention back to him. “Can I see it?”

Tony took a deep breath, backing away from Steve and walking into his bedroom. Gesturing for Steve to follow him, they stopped in front of a small desk in the corner of his room. 

Opening his computer, Tony sighed. “Here goes nothing.”

It took a minute, but a dark screen came up on the small laptop. Nothing else happened for a few seconds, the only sound in the room being Peter’s steps as he walked in behind them. 

Finally, the screen changed from black to a dark blue. “Hello Mr. Stark.” A confident British voice said.

As Jarvis spoke, the screen flashed the words he was saying. Steve glanced at Tony in surprise.

“Remember me?” Peter asked Jarvis, walking up the computer.

“Of course. Hello Peter, the best son in the world.”

Peter laughed. “I asked him to call me that. Remember Dad?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Okay Jarvis. Who’s next to me right now?”

Pictures of Steve from Tony’s computer popped up on the screen. “According to your descriptions, that seems to be Steve Rogers, your current boyfriend.”

Steve raised his eyebrow. “You gave him pictures of me? And you described me to him?”

“Sir spends a lot of time talking about you.” Jarvis said.

“You do?” Steve chuckled, turning to a sheepish Tony.

“What? I like talking about you.” 

Peter nodded at Steve. “You have no idea. He literally talks about you all the time. The first week you two started dating was the worst.” 

Tony shook his head. “That’s not entirely true. I didn’t talk about you _that_ much-”

Peter clasped his hands together, looking off into the distance with a dazed expression. “ _I love Steve. Do you think Steve likes me? Oh Steve, with his blue eyes and his blond hair and his-_ ” 

“Okay, that’s enough. That wasn’t an open invitation to mock me.” 

Peter laughed. “Come on! You just hated it because it was good.”

“I, for one, found Peter’s impression to be quite hilarious.” A British voice rang.

Everyone’s attention jolted back to the small laptop. Tony let out a breathless laugh. “Did he just…?”

“It was very well done.” The calm computerized voice spoke.

“Yes! Thank you Jarvis!” Peter laughed, his overjoyed expression making Steve chuckle as well. 

“I think that’s enough Jarvis for today.” Tony said, walking over to the computer to shut it off.

Just as his fingertips grazed the lid of the laptop, Peter rushed over. “Dad, can I ask Jarvis one more thing?”

“Alright. Make it quick though.”

Peter smirked, standing in front of the computer. “Jarvis, How many times has my Dad talked about Steve to you?”

Tony’s eyes widened. He glanced nervously at Steve, who was equally as focused in on the computer as Peter.

“Around ten separate times, each conversation ranging from five minutes to an hour.”

“Okay! That’s it from Jarvis.” Tony sighed, closing the laptop. 

Peter grinned. “Sorry. I had to ask. But… you talked about Steve for a whole hour once?”

Tony ignored Peter, watching Steve out of the corner of his eye. The blond had a red tint to his cheeks, but looked slightly touched at the thought of Tony talking about him so frequently. 

“I think I’m gonna go do some homework now.” Peter said hurriedly as he inched away from the computer.

“Fine. But I’m having a serious talk with you later about asking Jarvis my personal questions!” Tony called after his son.

Tony felt someone grip his shoulder as Peter left the room. Turning around to look at Steve, he felt himself grin. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem. But… you’ve only talked about me with Jarvis ten times? I thought it’d at least be twenty. Or thirty, if I’m being honest.” Steve said, the tip of his nose scrunching up adorably as he laughed.

Tony shook his head, slightly amused. “Okay okay. I get it. I talk about you a lot. I’m embarrassing.”

“Nonsense. It’s cute.” Steve kissed the top of Tony’s head. “Now, let’s go get something to eat. I’m starving.”  
—————————

A couple days passed, and soon Rhodey’s arrival was only a week away. 

Every time Tony glanced at his calendar he had the unfriendly reminder that he still hadn’t planned anything for his friend. He consciously procrastinated until Peter finally sat him down at the kitchen table, glaring at him until Tony finally asked what was wrong.

“ _What’s wrong_ is that you’re being lazy.” Peter said in a surprisingly assertive tone. “You need to start putting something together for him.”

“Yeah. I know. I’m a terrible friend.” Tony sighed. 

Peter scoffed. “No you’re not Dad. Just plan something for Rhodey and you’ll be fine.”

“But you know how bad I am at planning those kind of things. The last party I hosted with your mom was the worst. I gave everyone food poisoning, remember?”

Peter nodded, cringing slightly. “I know. But it would be a mistake _not_ to do something for Rhodey. He’s your best friend.”

“But Peter, I don’t even know what this thing would be. Should it be an actual party? Do I just invite you and Steve or do I invite more people?”

“Hold on. I think I can help you plan something.” Peter said under his breath, getting up out of his chair.

“Wait, where are you going?”

Peter mumbled something about grabbing a notebook and his computer as he dashed away. Tony chuckled at his enthusiasm, waiting a couple of minutes before he came rushing back.

“I’m _really_ good at organizing things. This should be easy.” 

Tony sighed. “If you help me plan this…”

“I get all the credit?” Peter said, looking up from his laptop with a hopeful grin.

“Fine. You get all the credit.”

After a few hours, they had a potential plan for a small party at their apartment. The decorations Tony needed to buy for it were written on misshapen pieces of paper, and a small guest list was typed out on Peter’s computer. Everything was figured out except for food, which Tony readily offered to handle.

At the end of it all, Tony let out a relieved sigh and grinned at his son. “I owe you a serious thank you, Peter. Without your help…”

“You’d be screwed.” Peter said, giving a decisive nod.

Tony laughed. ”You’re right. Thank you.”

Peter smiled. “No problem. Just remember to call everyone on the guest list. If you forget to invite everybody, all this planning is gonna be useless.”

“I’ll call everyone after my date with Steve tomorrow. I’ll grab the decorations today. Sound good?”

Peter nodded. “Sounds great.”  
________________________

Tony felt strong arms wrap around his waist. A chin soon rested on the edge of his shoulder. The arms around his waist squeezed him tighter and he almost rolled his eyes.

“What are you doing, Steve?”

Steve chuckled, soon releasing Tony. “Making sure you’re ready for our date tomorrow.”

Tony had been leaving his apartment to grab decorations for the party when he was ambushed by his over-enthusiastic neighbor/boyfriend. Turning around to look at Steve, he watched as the blond’s face slowly turned from excited to confused. 

Taking a step forward, Steve placed his hand on Tony’s cheek. “Are you Okay? You look… mad. Are you mad at me?”

Tony felt his hand branch out to hold Steve’s. “No. I’m just annoyed because of this party I’m throwing for Rhodey. I’m just… terrible at hosting any sort of social gathering.”

Steve smiled, squeezing Tony’s hand sympathetically. “If you plan our dates half as well as you plan parties, It’ll be perfect. You have nothing to worry about.”

Tony sighed and let go of Steve. “Yeah… Hopefully.”

A silence fell between them. Tony noticed Steve fidgeting with his hands.

Trying to change the subject, Tony cleared his throat. “So… What are you doing in the hallway?”

“Oh!” Steve’s eyes widened like he was just remembering something. “I was just going to walk over and ask Peter about… a thing.”

“That’s weird… I thought you had Peter’s phone number? Can’t you text him?”

A spark of nervousness flashed over Steve’s face. “Um, yeah. I guess I just forgot. Whoops.”

Tony tilted his head to the side, eyes squinted. “Yeah…”

Tony knew he was lying. Steve wouldn’t go over to his apartment just to talk with Peter, he would simply text him like he always did. Steve was either doing something with Peter, or he was in the hallway for another strange reason.

Steve seemed to notice the long silence and backed away to his apartment door. “I… have to go.”

“Oh, Yeah. So do I.” Tony said, walking towards the stairs he was attempting to reach before.

“I guess… I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Tony nodded and stepped down the first stair. “Yeah. See you.”

________________________

After buying way too many decorations for the party, Tony came back to his apartment to find Peter asleep in his room. Even if he wanted to question his son about Steve, he knew it was a bad idea to wake Peter up from a nap and instead opted to start cooking their dinner.

Peter strolled into the kitchen with a pile of blankets on his shoulders a few minutes later.

“It smells good. Are you making something?” He asked, sitting himself on the nearby kitchen table.

Tony quickly glanced back at him. “Soup. How was your nap?”

Peter sighed. “Okay I guess. I only really slept for an hour. I actually had a little bit of time to go on my computer to finish homework after.”

Tony nodded. “That’s good.” 

Tony turned back to his stove and let out an anxious breath. He wanted to bring up what happened with Steve in the hallway, but he wasn’t exactly sure how to broach the subject with Peter.

Tony eventually decided to bring it up at dinner. He finished the soup, portioning it into two large bowls. He placed one of them in front of Peter, who still had his blankets wrapped around him. He then grabbed silverware, two glasses, and a pitcher of lemonade from their fridge. He placed the glasses between them, pouring an equal amount of lemonade into both as Peter started to eat.

“This is really good Dad. Are you sure Steve’s not giving you cooking lessons?” He asked.

“No, but he should be.” Tony chuckled, putting down the pitcher of lemonade and taking a seat across from Peter. “Speaking of Steve…”

Peter visibly tensed, awkwardly glancing up at Tony as he attempted to finish his meal. “What about him?”

“He was in the hallway today, and he was acting really weird. He said he wanted to come over here to ask you about something. Do you know anything about that?” Tony asked, watching Peter start to eat his soup faster.

“Nope. Don’t know anything. Shoot, I have an online quiz for English due in five minutes that I forgot about-” He stood up abruptly, taking his bowl and his lemonade with him. “I’ll just finish this in my room.”

Tony watched Peter leave, sighing softly. As if figuring out Rhodey’s party, Peter’s birthday, and everything with Jarvis wasn’t enough- now he had to deal with a secret from Steve. 

Tony sat in thought a few minutes longer until his phone dinged in his pocket. He took it out, eyes widening when he saw a text message from Rhodey. 

He never got text messages from Rhodey- they usually talked over the phone if they had something to say to each other. Especially because they were so far apart, it was more comforting to hear the voice of his closest friend rather than a simple text message. Still, Tony eagerly opened his phone to read it.

R: Can’t believe I’ll be in New York a week from now. What kind of plans do we have together?

Tony grinned. He wanted to tell Rhodey all about the party, but he didn’t know if he should yet. Peter could get mad, and everything still wasn’t set in stone.

“Oh well.” He muttered, typing out his response.

T: Trying to throw something together so you can meet everyone over here. It wouldn’t be a huge thing, just a small get-together with a few people.

Minutes passed before Rhodey responded. In the meantime Tony ate the rest of his soup and cleaned some of the dirty dishes sitting in his sink. When he finally heard the quiet ding from his phone, he threw down his dish towel, wiping his hands off before checking the message. 

R: Sounds great!

______________________

“So… I made a list of some activities we could do. We could go out somewhere for a walk, we could see a movie...” Steve suggested, taking a cautious glance from his list to judge Tony’s expression. “Or… we could always just stay at my apartment eating the different pastries I made.”

Tony glanced briefly at Steve’s list of date ideas. “Let’s just do the thing where we stay at your house. I need to talk to you about something anyway.”

“Sure. Of course. That’s fine. That’s great actually. Yeah.” Steve said, taking out the key to his apartment and turning towards his door.

Tony sighed in relief. He didn’t need to go anywhere with Steve, all he wanted was some time to relax. Especially with the terrible headache that had been forming at the side of his head since the early morning.

Tony knew it was a stress headache as soon as he woke up. It wasn’t a bad one, at least compared to the ones he used to have during his divorce. It was just enough to bother him, and he almost dreaded the knock that came at his door mid-afternoon. 

But Tony opened his door and smiled at Steve despite how awful he felt. At least he could finally tell someone about everything that was bothering him, and maybe he would feel better. Maybe he could even convince Steve to help him with Rhodey’s party.

But as Tony glanced at Steve, he noticed how worried he looked. Even doing something as simple as opening the door to his apartment was taking him forever. His hands slipped over the key, his face anxious as he looked back at Tony. 

Three minutes passed. “It’s hard to open sometimes but it’s usually not this bad-” Steve muttered, trying desperately to turn his key.

“Here, let me try.” Tony said, watching as Steve backed away from the door.

Tony put his hand on the key, lightly turning it until he heard a quiet click. Taking out the key from the keyhole, he twisted Steve’s door open effortlessly.

“Oh. Must’ve been turning it too hard…” Steve mumbled, holding the door for Tony.

Tony nodded slightly, confused about why Steve was acting so nervous. Choosing to ignore it, he glanced around the familiar kitchen.

He inhaled deeply. “Are you baking something? Do you ever stop baking?”

Steve chuckled. “Y-Yeah. I was making something. Anyway, d-did you want to talk about something?”

Tony squinted at Steve, unsure of what to make of his strange behavior. “Um, yeah. I did want to talk for a little bit about a couple things. First I just wanted to talk about-”

“Okay, Okay. I get it, Peter told you already. It’s obvious.” Steve sighed, pacing around the kitchen. “And I get it, you’re against the idea. Which I completely understand! There’s bad electricity there. A lot of the light is from rechargeable lanterns. Not to mention it’s in the middle of nowhere, and it’s such a bad idea-”

“Steve, what the hell are you talking about?” Tony asked, staring at him in utter confusion. 

Steve stopped pacing and looked up at Tony. “You didn’t know?”

“About what? What are you talking about?”

Steve shook his head, sighing deeply. He turned around, staring away in clear disappointment. Tony walked toward him carefully.

“Steve? What was that about?”

Steve turned back to look at Tony, his eyes downcast. “I have a lakehouse that I used to share with Bucky. I was going to take you as a surprise. That’s why I was talking with Peter yesterday. I’ve been trying to plan something, and Peter was helping me with it.”

Tony’s eyes widened in shock. His heart started to beat faster. “Oh my god. Steve-”

“I know. It’s ridiculous. And I know the idea will never work with Peter at school and with everything you’re doing and my work-”

Tony cut off Steve with a sharp kiss. It only lasted for a few seconds, but they were both glowing afterward. 

“Thank you for even thinking about surprising me with this. And… We’ll make it work. We can talk about it tonight.” 

Steve beamed, kissing Tony on the cheek. “What did you actually want to talk to me about then? Is everything okay?”

“Oh, I was just going to ask you for help with inviting people to Rhodey’s party. Do you mind?”

Steve shook his head. “I’d love to help.”

Steve texted Bucky, Sam, and Natasha. Tony called Pepper, as she was friends with Rhodey too. Somehow, everyone was able to go. 

It was definitely an interesting group of people, and Tony found himself vaguely nervous for the party. Steve, however, seemed completely relaxed.

“I’m sure it’ll go smoothly. I mean, everyone there is friends with you. Everyone will get along.”

Tony smiled. “Yeah… I mean, it’s not like a fight is gonna break out. At least, I hope not.”

Steve laughed and wrapped his arms around Tony. “Stop worrying yourself. It’s gonna be fantastic.”

“Yeah. I hope so.”

Steve held Tony for a few seconds longer, thumb tracing the base of Tony’s neck. Tony stopped worrying, breathing deeply until he felt like falling asleep.

Steve laughed. “Are you tired? You know, we can always just go to sleep.”

“What? No.” Tony said, immediately pushing himself off of Steve. “We still have to talk about your lakehouse. And we need to eat the stuff you baked. I was just getting sleepy because you’re comfortable.”

Steve shook his head. “Whatever you say. But seriously, it’s only five o’clock and you’re tired? Are you okay? You stay up till twelve AM with no problem on a regular day.”

“It’s just this party stuff, y’know? I kind of told Rhodey about it, so I can’t back out. And now I really can’t back out because we invited all the guests. And… god. I don’t even know if my apartment has enough room.” Tony sighed, his headache coming back to the surface.

“Hey hey hey. Let’s stop talking about the party for a while, yeah?” Steve whispered, looking deep into Tony’s eyes.

Tony nodded softly. “Yeah. Let’s talk about the lakehouse.”

They walked into Steve’s living room. Tony laid next to Steve on his couch, his face pressed into Steve’s shoulder.

“So, What kinds of questions do you have about it?” Steve asked, looking down at Tony.

“Where is it? What lake?”

Steve smiled. “It’s not too far out of the city. It’s a super small lake called Lake Fresa. Not many people have houses there because of how small it is.”

Tony nodded. “So do you own the house? Or does Bucky?”

“Bucky, technically. He owns it because he inherited it from his parents. But he shares it with me because I enjoy it there way more than he does.”

“And you’re surprising me with a trip there because…?” Tony asked, grinning at Steve.

“Because you’ve been stressed recently. And you deserve it after all your hard work on Jarvis. And this party. And Peter’s birthday coming up.”

Tony smiled. “Seems reasonable. When would we go?”

Steve’s eyes brightened. “You really want to do it?”

“Of course I want to.” Tony said, laughing. “ When is it?” 

“Someday after Peter’s birthday party. The one we’re going to do with Pepper?”

Tony looked up at Steve. “Peter has a three-day weekend off from school that week. The lakehouse might just work.”

_____________________________________

_Four Days Later_

Tony didn’t even notice it was the day before Rhodey’s party until he glanced worriedly at his calendar. Sure enough, it was almost the big day- and Tony had no option but to call over Steve to ask for help in cleaning his apartment.

There was just too much of a mess in his house for one person. Too many crowded tablespaces, dirty windows, unorganized rooms. He knew he was asking for a lot from Steve, but he couldn’t do it alone while Peter was at school.

Steve came over around ten o’clock, a smile on his face that immediately brightened Tony’s morning. It wasn’t long before they both started cleaning the kitchen, Steve doing the countertops as Tony did floor.

After an extended silence in one of their conversations, Tony set the mop he was using against his kitchen table. He looked to Steve, a question popping into his mind that made him clear his throat pointedly.

“Am I bothering you?” He asked, mind blanking.

Steve’s brow furrowed as he looked up from his cleaning. “What are you talking about Tony?”

Tony tried to regain his train of thought. Shaking his head to clear himself, he looked back up at Steve again. “Weren’t you supposed to work at the bakery today? I thought you usually went in on the weekdays.” 

Steve focused on his sponge. “I had a week off.”

“I thought you couldn’t take weeks off?” Tony said, to no reply.

Tony lowered his eyes back to the floor and took ahold of his mop. He had been meaning to ask about Steve’s seemingly nonexistent hours at work for weeks, but he never got the chance. Looking up at Steve, he noticed that his blue eyes were trained to his cleaning and he was completely silent. It was unlike him to be so soundless.

Tony walked over to Steve, dropping his mop on the floor and grabbing ahold of his boyfriend’s hand.

Steve’s hand was warm and soapy but familiar. Tony looked carefully into his eyes. “Hey. I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just making sure you’re not taking time off of work just to help me with this party stuff. That’s why I was asking if I was bothering you.”

Steve shook his head, backing away from Tony’s grip and grabbing the sponge near him. “You’re not bothering me. I only took a break from the bakery because of Bucky.” Steve paused for a second, his eyes trained on the counter. “Bucky told me that… I don’t bake like I used to. I’ve been practicing a lot, but I’m just not sure it’s enough. It doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

The baked goods constantly in Steve’s apartment finally made sense. He wasn’t making those for fun, he was practicing. He was trying as hard as he could to regain his craft.

“I’m sure you’ll be back at the bakery in no time. You practically started the place, Bucky can’t get rid of you. You’re too good.” Tony said confidently.

“I’m not that great, trust me.” Steve sighed, scrubbing the countertop even though he had nothing left to clean. 

Tony rolled his eyes. “You’re certainly better than me. You’re better than anyone I know.”

Steve suddenly set down the sponge, eyes squeezed shut. Tony took a step back from where he was, watching as Steve’s fists clenched. 

“You don’t get it Tony. You’re brilliant. You could do anything you want with your life. Baking is all I’m able to do. I have no other choice.” 

“You’re wrong.” Tony insisted. “You can do this. You can do more than this, if you want. I know you can.”

Steve bit his lip and looked to the ground. “I don’t know if you understand Tony.” 

Steve gripped the counter. Tony watched his knuckles turn white. 

Glancing back up at Tony, he sighed. “I don’t think I can ever be a good baker again.”

“You’re wrong. Barnes would be lucky to have you in his bakery.” Tony said, taking Steve’s hand off of the counter so he could hold it gently. “We can prove it to him. Bake something for Rhodey’s party tomorrow. Bucky will be able to see how great everything is and he’ll hire you for real.”

Steve looked up at Tony with a glint of hope in his eyes. “You think he’d actually hire me?”

“Definitely.” Tony said, placing a hand on Steve’s cheek. 

He moved his hand up through Steve’s face to his soft hair, russling it for a few seconds before pressing a quick kiss to his lips. Steve slowly smiled, his face relaxing and becoming less hardened.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you Tony. It’s kind of a sore subject for me. Just because… I need to be an actual employee there. Not some… cashier.” He said, a discouraged look crossing his face.

“You’re right. That’s why you’re going to make the best damn pastries anyone’s ever tasted for this party.”

Steve nodded. “I will.”  
______________________________

_The Next Day_

“I’m already regretting this.”

Steve placed another plate of food on the kitchen table and shook his head. “Rhodey will love it. It’ll be fun.”

In the back of his mind, Tony knew Steve was right. Rhodey would love anything he put together. Still, he felt anxious. The party was that day. Once Peter got back from school, they’d start hanging decorations. It was all happening faster than he would’ve liked.

While Tony was thinking, Steve shoved a sugar cookie into his hand. 

“Here. Eat this. They’re addicting, and you look like you could use one.”

Tony grinned despite his nervous mood. “How did I ever find a guy like you?”

“No clue.” Steve replied, glancing at his watch. “Peter’s coming home in a few minutes. Party is in a few hours.”

“Let’s hope this whole thing isn’t a disaster.”


	11. Rhodey’s Party (Part Two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony attempts to get Steve’s job back with a little help from Rhodey, Steve’s friends meet Tony’s, and Tony makes plans to meet Peter’s girlfriend for the first time.

A cluster of balloons lined his doorway, different snacks and drinks surrounded his kitchen table, and every room in his apartment was spotless. All of it was evidence of a party, which was starting sooner than Tony wanted to admit. 

He sat next to Steve, shoving more desserts into his mouth. He tried to take another from the table, but Steve reached out to grasp his hand in mid-air before he could. 

“Tony. Calm down for a second.” 

Tony leaned back and rolled his eyes, but was secretly grateful for Steve stopping him. He had probably eaten a good portion of his desserts before he was stopped.

Steve moved his hand from a grip around Tony’s wrist to having their fingers intertwined. He smiled at other man softly. “You can stop stress-eating now. This is going to be an amazing party. Rhodey will love it. You have nothing to worry about.”

Tony nodded. “I’m sorry, I know you have to tell me that same motivational shit every five seconds. I don’t even know why I’m still worrying about this-”

There was a quick knock at his door, the sound causing Tony to stop talking as soon as he heard it. It was the kind of knock he immediately recognized from years of friendship, and he sprung up and opened the door as fast as he could. There, just as he expected, was Rhodey.

“I’m sort of early, but I wasn’t about to sit around doing nothing without seeing you.” Rhodey said, making Tony laugh like they hadn’t been away from each other for an entire year. Like they were living inches away from each other instead of miles.

It was then that Tony hugged Rhodey, smiling into the warm embrace that was equal parts relief and happiness. Rhodey hugged back, his smile widening when Tony let go and started to speak.

“When did your plane land? How’s Los Angeles been? Actually, hold on, let me get you a drink and you can tell me. What do you want?”

“Just a water, thanks. I’m so thirsty, the plane was _terrible_. They didn’t serve any drinks. I mean, can you believe I paid four hundred dollars for a flight without drinks?” Rhodey complained, slowly walking into the apartment.

There was an extended silence as Rhodey looked around Tony’s apartment, taking in the new place he’d never seen before. Tony noticed him smile when he saw familiar pictures of Peter on the wall, including past Christmas cards and other photos he recognized from Tony’s old apartment.

Steve stood up from his chair in the corner of the room, seeing it as a good opportunity to introduce himself. Rhodey looked to him, finally noticing Tony’s boyfriend for the first time.

Steve walked over to Rhodey and stuck out his hand. “Hi. I’m Steve.”

Rhodey grinned, shaking hands with Steve. “I’m Rhodey. Tony’s friend.”

“I’ve heard about you. Tony tells me your college stories.”

Rhodey chuckled. “And I’ve heard about you too. Tony talks about you a lot. I probably know more about you than I know about Tony.”

Steve laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. I’m sure. He likes to… talk about me.”

“You have _no_ idea.” Rhodey said, eyes leaving Steve to stare at Tony in amusement.

“Okay okay, I’ll go get that water so you guys can gossip more.” Tony sighed, shaking his head and going into the kitchen.

Once he was out of sight, Tony smiled to himself- feeling almost light-headed with relief. Steve and Rhodey were getting along better than he could’ve ever imagined, and he was actually starting to look forward to the party which was soon thirty minutes away.

After finding a bottle of water in the fridge, Tony walked back over to Rhodey and handed it to him. Rhodey paused mid sentence to take a drink, smiling brightly at Tony afterwards.

“Thanks. I was just talking to Steve about his opinions on flying.”

Steve chuckled. “I was telling Rhodey that I’m pretty neutral on it. How about you?”

Tony thought for a moment. “I’m… okay with it. I only have a problem if-”

Another knock at the door made him pause.

“One second.” He said, walking out of the living room to get to the front door. 

He could hear Steve and Rhodey laughing in the other room, and he knew that having them meet each other was a great idea. Feeling more confident about his hosting, Tony strode over to the front of his apartment and pulled the door open.

“Oh, Hey Pepper.”

Pepper straightened her dress and then waved. “Hey. Sorry I’m early.” 

Tony opened the door a little wider to let her in. “You’re fine. Rhodey came early too.”

She walked in and looked around at the various party decorations in the kitchen, genuinely impressed. “You did a good job Tony. I like the table over there.”

Tony laughed and glanced at the snack table. “Steve went a little overboard with the food.”

“What about me going overboard?” Steve asked, coming from the living room with Rhodey.

“Nothing. Pepper and I were just talking about your massive snack selection.”

Steve shook his head. “I know. I made too much, didn’t I?”

Rhodey strolled over to Pepper and gave a quick hug. They started talking, striking up a conversation that had Pepper doubling over in laughter after a few seconds. The sight was so familiar that Tony felt his heart start to ache, memories he hadn’t thought about in forever coming back to his mind. He and Pepper preparing for Rhodey to come over, Peter staying up past his bedtime to hang out with his “uncle Rhodes”, sharing stories and laughing about nothing. It was all too familiar, but so unfamiliar at the same time.

Steve noticed Tony’s change in mood, and his blue eyes were immediately scanning over brown. Tony shook his head in exasperation- Steve knew him far too well.

“I know you’re worried, but I’m fine. Pepper and Rhodey talking like that just… reminds me of old memories.” Tony whispered to Steve.

“You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Never been better.” Tony said- and it was the truth. He enjoyed his old life, but he loved his new one even more.

“Good.” Steve nodded, sensing how genuine Tony was. 

Rhodey and Pepper continued to talk, absorbed in a conversation that Tony knew pretty much nothing about. So, instead of joining them, he finally started to drag Peter out of his room.

First notifying Steve of his plans before doing anything, he took one glance at Pepper and Rhodey before starting his walk to his son’s bedroom. He headed down the narrow hallway, turning right and standing in front of the room that Peter had been hiding in since he got back from school.

He knew Peter was likely worn out from his classes, so he knocked on his door quietly. After no response, he knocked louder. “Peter? Uncle Rhodey’s here.”

It took a few seconds longer, but eventually Tony heard stirring within his room. “I’m coming out now!”

Peter ran out of his room, his face flushed but happy. “Guess what just happened, Dad.”

“I don’t know, tell me.” Tony smiled, amused at Peter’s excitedness.

“I was talking to Michelle, and she said that she wants to meet you. She’s my girlfriend, and she’s an amazing person. She’s kind of intense sometimes though, so-”

“Wait, what are you talking about?”

“My girlfriend Michelle, remember?” Peter grinned.

“She wants to meet me? What about your mom? Does she want to meet her too?”

Tony waited for a response from Peter, but he was instead met with complete silence. Peter sheepishly looked at the ground, his eyes stubbornly avoiding Tony’s. That’s when Tony knew that something was wrong.

He sighed. “Does she know that your mom and I are divorced?”

Peter’s cheeks turned bright red. “Well… that’s kind of the problem. She doesn’t know I have a mom. I kind of told her that you and Steve are my parents.”

Tony shook his head, looking at his son in disappointment. “Peter…”

“I told her that because I was fighting with Mom at the time! And I regret it so much. But please please please agree to meet her. She’s _really_ eager to meet you, surprisingly. Usually she’s… pretty quiet. Not in a shy way, she just doesn’t like… people. Except for me, I guess.”

At hearing this, Tony sighed. He knew it wasn’t Michelle’s fault that Peter lied, and he was also extremely curious as to what his son’s girlfriend was like.

Eventually, he looked at Peter and nodded. “Alright. But tell her the truth, okay? Tell her that Pepper and I are divorced, and Steve isn’t your dad.”

“Great. Of course.”

“Okay. Can we go back to the kitchen to say hello to everyone now?” Tony asked, smiling as Peter let out a groan

“I guess so.”

They walked to the kitchen, Peter running to Rhodey as soon as he got there. They hugged, Peter then turning to Pepper to hug her.

Tony watched them with Steve at his side. After a few seconds, Steve glanced at Tony. “You were gone for awhile. What happened?” 

“I had to ask a teen to come out of his room. It’s a lot harder than it sounds.” Tony shrugged, choosing not to explain Peter’s situation.

Steve nodded. “Understandable.”

Tony rested his head on Steve’s shoulder, watching his son for a few more seconds before looking up at the blond. “What time is it?”

Steve glanced at his watch before rolling his eyes. “Eight-forty. Tony, I’m so sorry. My friends were supposed to be here forty minutes ago. They’re usually not this late, especially not to something like this.”

“Are you worried something happened?” Tony mumbled, pressing his face deeper into Steve’s shoulder.

“I don’t know. Like I said, they’re usually not late to stuff. But… It’s fine.” Steve said, pressing a kiss behind Tony’s ear. “I guess I’m just worried Bucky won’t come and our plan with my job won’t work.”

Tony nodded. “I really hope he comes. Just so he can eat all of your desserts and hire you as a head baker again.” 

“Me too.”

The doorbell rang. Tony pushed himself off of Steve, immediately starting for the front door.

“I’ll get it!” Peter yelled a few seconds later, running to the front of the apartment.

Tony stopped walking and slowly headed back to Steve. “I guess Peter has the door.”

Not one minute later, Bucky walked into the room. He greeted everyone at the party one by one, chatting for a little bit before he made his way over to Steve and Tony- who were whispering about plans on how to deal with the bakery situation.

If Bucky heard or noticed the whispering, he decided not to comment on it and instead chose to launch into a story about his car troubles. He described how his car broke down, causing him to search up and down the city for a cab. When he couldn’t find one, he had to download Uber and get a driver through there. Instead of listening, Tony was plotting the whole time- thinking only about how to get Bucky to eat one of Steve’s desserts.

“Oh, you must be starving.” Tony smiled sympathetically once Bucky finally finished his story. “You know, we have ten different drinks in the fridge and a wonderful assortment of food-”

“I’m fine, thanks. I’ve had a ton of sweets this week, I probably don’t need more.”

There was an audible silence before Tony gave a quick nod. “That’s fine.”

In the corner of the room, Tony made eye contact with Rhodey and gestured towards the living room with his eyes. Rhodey nodded and ended his conversation to go follow Tony.

It was a secret gesture they made up in college for when they wanted to talk alone. While it was usually more useful in an “I’m in an awkward situation and I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend” scenario, there was also the occasional prank or other planned event that needed a meeting. But, no matter what situation, they would always stop what they were doing to help the other person out.

It’s why Rhodey looked slightly confused when he ended up in Tony’s bedroom, the door closed and locked tightly.

“Everything okay, Tones? We haven’t had one of these in forever. I’m surprised I didn’t forget what our eye-signals look like.”

Tony sighed. “I need your help, Rhodes. Or, more accurately, Steve and I need your help. Even though he technically doesn’t know that I’m asking for your help. And I’m not even sure that I _should_ be asking for help…”

Rhodey’s expression became more puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

“Okay. I need you to talk to Bucky, the guy you met just now. I need you to steer him towards the food that Steve made. He needs to eat some of it, or else Steve might not have a chance to prove himself as a baker.”

“Wait, What?”

“It’s… a long story. But I need your help badly. Please.” Tony said, looking to his friend desperately. 

Rhodey took one last look at Tony’s face before rolling his eyes. “Yes, of course I’ll do it. But… how are you going to help?”

“I’ll make sure I’m talking to the rest of the party, getting them to try the desserts. Maybe if they see how good everything is, Bucky will want to try it. All I know is that he won’t listen to me. I already tried talking to him myself, just now. He pretty much dodged all of my attempts at convincing him to try something.”

“Alright then, I guess I can try.” Rhodey nodded. “I mean, it’s not like I have anything to lose. You owe me big for this, though. I deserve some favors, Alright?”

“Deal. As many favors done as you want, I promise.”

“Great.” Rhodey said, starting to chuckle after a few seconds. “Tones, doesn’t this remind you of the type of plans we would make in college?”

Tony smirked, head lowered in embarrassment. “Jesus. I forgot about those. Why did you have to remind me?”

“Remember when we tried to get that one guy to talk to you so you could ask him out on a date? What was his name?”

“I can’t remember. All I remember was that I was bawling when he told me he had a girlfriend.” Tony laughed, parts of the memory still fresh in his mind- specifically the part of him holding back tears at a party filled with upperclassmen.

“You had a crush on every hot guy and girl on campus, but you really liked that one. Your eyes would melt whenever you saw him.” Rhodey said, a fond smile on his face.

“I remember.”

Rhodey‘s smiled faded, his expression suddenly becoming more serious. “Is that how you feel about Steve?” 

Tony thought about the last time he kissed Steve- the way his stomach fluttered and his eyes closed as soon as their lips touched. He thought about Steve’s blue eyes and soft hair, warm and bright and gorgeous 

After a moment, Tony smiled. “Yes. But it’s more than that. I love him.” 

“So he’s not just a hot guy? He’s… for real?” Rhodey said, his eyes becoming darker. “Because if he hurts you, he’ll have hell to pay. I’ve gone through enough of your heartbreaks, and I know how hard it gets for you so if he doesn’t-”

“Rhodes, I promise you that Steve won’t hurt me. He was friends with me before we were dating, and I trust him.”

Rhodey relaxed again, his smile quickly coming back to the surface. “Good. You know I’m just looking out for you, right? Don’t want you to end up with the wrong guy.”

“I know. Thanks.”

“I’ve got you.” Rhodey said, slinging an arm around Tony. “Now, let's end this chat and get Bucky to eat some food.”

“Agreed.”

____________________

It was thirty minutes later when the doorbell rang, causing Tony to look up from his conversation with Steve.

Peter abruptly sat up from a kitchen chair. “I’ll grab it!”

“It’s fine, Peter. I’ve got it.” Tony said, walking to the door before his son could get there.

Tony opened it, and was slightly surprised at what he saw. Natasha and Sam, carrying about two dozen chocolate cupcakes made straight from the bakery. More like one dozen, as Tony also noticed a smidgen of brown icing at the corner of both of their mouths. Still, he grinned at the gesture, taking the boxes of cupcakes as he welcomed them inside.

He put the cupcakes on the table carefully, placing them right next to Steve’s almost-identical recipe. Tony glanced back at Steve, whose expression quickly began to harden. He glared at Natasha and Sam, striding over to Tony angrily.

“Did you see that? They’re doing this on purpose, I know it. They knew I’d make stuff for this, and they’re trying to beat me.” Steve whispered to Tony, eyes wild with rage.

“I’m sure they’re not.” Tony sighed, taking Steve’s hand in his own. “Look. Just go over, greet them, and… try talking to Bucky.”

“What? No.” Steve immediately shook his head. “I’m not talking to any of them, especially Bucky.”

Something seemed to click in Tony’s mind, and his mouth opened in shock. “I can’t believe- Steve. I’ve been going about this whole bakery thing wrong.”

Steve’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Well… I tried talking to Bucky, and it didn’t work. I told Rhodey to try talking to Bucky, and as you can see…”

They both looked to Rhodey, who was desperately trying to keep a conversation with Bucky. Bucky just nodded along, clearly uninterested in whatever he was saying. Tony grabbed Steve by the arm, making his attention fall back to their conversation. 

“ _You_ need to ask Bucky to try some of your desserts. By yourself. I wasn’t able to do it… and I don’t think anybody will be able to do it but you.”

Steve sighed, tightening his hold on Tony’s hand. “Okay. I will. But if he doesn’t try a dessert…”

“He will.” Tony grinned. “I have a feeling.”

Steve nodded, the thought of him and Bucky being back on good terms beginning to lift his spirits. He let go of Tony’s hand gently and walked off to Bucky, who was still maintaining a tedious conversation with Rhodey. As soon as Steve came along, however, Rhodey sensed his purpose and moved out of the way so he could speak to Bucky alone. 

Tony watched Steve and Bucky talk for a few minutes, their expressions becoming gradually less tense as they spoke. Pretty soon, Steve was attempting to press five different desserts into Bucky’s hand, who took them with a smile on his face. He ate each one, his smile becoming more and more genuine until he eventually hugged Steve, who seemed to be surprised at the gesture. He paused a few moments before eventually hugging Bucky back.

Throughout the party Tony watched them, making sure everything between them ran smoothly. But, after awhile, he had no reason to watch them for signs of a fight and he slowly became more relaxed as well. Steve and Bucky were friends again, and everything was once again normal.

Soon after, the environment in the room became significantly more friendly. Pepper was talking to Steve’s friends, Rhodey was talking with Peter, and Tony was watching it all with a smile on his face. His party was a success, and he was pleased with how it went. 

But the party had to end at some point.

At almost eleven o’clock, Pepper said she had to leave due to having work in the morning. Peter chose to go to bed soon after, and slowly everyone left the apartment except for Rhodey.

Just as he was about to leave as well, he hugged Tony. “Thank you. I can’t believe that you did this whole thing for me.”

Tony sunk into the hug, his body deflating as his eyes closed. “This is nice. I’m exhausted, hope you don’t mind if I stay here for awhile.”

Rhodey chuckled and pushed Tony off of him. “Alright, alright. Stay awake, Tones.”

Tony stepped away from Rhodey, smiling bittersweetly at his friend. “I’ll miss you so much.”

“Me too. I hope I’ll have time to see you again this week. If my schedule isn’t too busy, you know we could always plan something.”

Tony smiled. “If you can, send me a text and stop by this apartment whenever. I’m around all week.”

“I will.” Rhodey said before walking through the doorway and waving goodbye to Tony.

Tony waved goodbye, closing the door and immediately sleeping on the nearest surface he could find.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey is so cute thank you have a nice day


End file.
